The Canadian dollar traded higher against major opponents after the releasing of unexpected U.S. jobs reports in New York morning trading on Friday. The loonie climbed to a new multi-month high against the greenback and more than a 2-week high versus the euro.
The loonie edged down against major rivals as the Canadian unemployment rate unexpectedly up at 7:00 am ET and the Canadian unit reversed its direction amid the U.S. unemployment rate data reported at 8:30 am ET.
Canada's unemployment rate unexpectedly edged higher in January, as employers added to payrolls at a slower pace the labor force grew, according to official data released today.
The unemployment rate edged up 0.1 percentage points to 7.6 percent as more people searched for work. 2,300 jobs were added across the nation last month.
After touching a 2-day low of 1.0035 by about 8:20 am ET, the loonie reversed its direction against the US dollar and currently trading near a new multi-month high of 0.9943. The pair closed yesterday's New York session at 0.9995.
According to new government statistics released today, The U.S. economy added far more jobs than were expected in the month of January, with the job growth unexpectedly pushing the unemployment rate down to its lowest level in almost 3 years.
The Labor Department report showed that the non-farm payroll employment jumped by 243,000 jobs in January following a revised increase of 203,000 jobs in December. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 140,000 jobs.
With the stronger than expected job growth, the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 8.3 percent from 8.5 percent in the previous month.
The Canadian unit that touched new multi-day lows of 1.3213 against the euro and 76.00 versus the Japanese yen by about 8:20 am ET edged up thereafter and presently trading near more than a 2-week high of 1.3043 and a 1-week high of 77.05, respectively.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.