Week in FX Americas-A Sandy Soaking did not materialize

It was supposed to rain on North American employment this Friday. Well, not so much on the Canadian numbers, but more so on the supposedly Sandy soaked NFP print. Canada’s employment rebounded aggressively from its October drought with an eye-popping +59.3k print. This result suggests that Canada’s Q3 slumber may not worsen into something greater in Q4.

Most of the Canadian gain was in full-time employment. It helped to take some pressure off the unemployment rate, which eased to +7.2%. Digging deeper, not ideal was where most of the jobs were created. They have appeared mostly in the two lower paying sectors of retail trade and hospitality. Industries that are tied to economic strength, like manufacturing and construction, lost jobs in the month.

Canada’s largest trading partner south of the border also beat employment expectations. However, the November NFP print of +146k was offset by a –49k revision to the two previous months. The market had been expecting a greater negative impact from Sandy. This did not materialize. The data included a gain of +53k retail jobs influenced mostly by an earlier Thanksgiving date. The drop in the number of Americans actively looking for work helped push the unemployment rate down to a new four-year low.

 

WEEK AHEAD

  • CNY Consumer Price Index (YoY)
  • JPY Gross Domestic Product
  • CNY New Yuan Loans
  • EUR German ZEW Survey
  • GBP Jobless Claims Change
  • USD Federal Open Market Committee Rate Decision* EUR ECB Publishes Monthly Report
  • JPY Tankan Large Manufacturers Outlook
  • USD Consumer Price Index

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

Dean Popplewell

Dean Popplewell

Vice-President of Market Analysis at MarketPulse
Dean Popplewell has nearly two decades of experience trading currencies and fixed income instruments.
He has a deep understanding of market fundamentals and the impact of global events on capital markets.
He is respected among professional traders for his skilled analysis and career history as global head
of trading for firms such as Scotia Capital and BMO Nesbitt Burns. Since joining OANDA in 2006, Dean
has played an instrumental role in driving awareness of the forex market as an emerging asset class
for retail investors, as well as providing expert counsel to a number of internal teams on how to best
serve clients and industry stakeholders.
Dean Popplewell