Canada’s job growth sparkles but Canadian dollar falls

The Canadian dollar can’t find its footing and is trading at nine-week low against the US dollar. In the North American session, USD/CAD is trading at 1.3792 at the time of writing, up 0.21%. The Canadian dollar has recorded eight straight losing sessions and is down 1.9% in October.

Canada’s job growth blows past expectations

The week ended on a high note, as Canada’s employment growth jumped by 46.7 thousand, crushing the market estimate of 27 thousand and sharply higher than the August reading of 22.1 thousand. Full-time employment surged by 112 thousand, following a decline of 43.6 thousand in August, while the unemployment rate dropped from 6.6% to 6.5%.

The impressive numbers couldn’t stop the Canadian dollar’s nasty slide but it will please Bank of Canada policymakers. The central bank has shifted its primary focus from inflation to risks to the labor market, now that inflation has been largely contained. In August, CPI dropped to 2%, its lowest level since February 2021.

The BoC meets next week and has a tough decision to make. The drop in inflation raised the odds of a 50-basis point cut but Friday’s employment report was stronger than expected and supports the case for a modest 25-bps cut. The BoC has been aggressive in its rate-cutting cycle and has lowered rates three times this year in a bid to ease the pressure of elevated rates.

The Federal Reserve has been late to the rate-lowering party, delivering its first rate cut in September. Still, the oversized 50-basis point cut in September signaled that the Fed means business and isn’t afraid to slash rates with large cuts. The Fed is expected to trim rates by an additional 50 or 75 basis points before year’s end. The most likely scenario is rate cuts of 25 bps in both November and December. The Fed could, however, deliver one more 50-bps cut if employment or inflation numbers are lower than expected.

USD/CAD Technical

• USD/CAD has pushed above resistance at 1.3758 and is testing resistance at 1.3790. The next resistance line is 1.3817
• 1.3731 and 1.3699 are the next support levels

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