The GBP to CAD Exchange rate firmed on Friday following the release of weaker-than-expected Canadian employment data which weighed upon the ‘Loonie’ and positive UK data bolstered the Pound.
Early in the session the Canadian Dollar hit a one-month high against the US Dollar and was trading stronger against the Pound and Euro.
That strength quickly disappeared however in the afternoon after official data showed that the number of Canadians in work declined by 28,900 in April.
The figure was well below the increase of 12,000 forecast by analysts and was a sharp decline from the 42,900 increase seen in March.
“The drop in private sector and full-time employment is bad news, although we’ll wait for more data before concluding that this isn’t just a giveback after the prior month’s massive gains,” said senior economist Krishen Rangasamy of National Bank.
The data also showed that the nation’s overall unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.95% in April, a figure which widely met expectations.
The loss in jobs came despite a rise in self-employment, and was pretty broad based between goods and service sectors. The six-month average in job gains now stands at a paltry 3,000, well below what we would expect given recent GDP growth,” said an economist at CIBC World Markets.
According to the data there are now more than 1.3 million Canadians out of work.
Sterling is likely to strengthen further against the ‘Loonie’ if the latest NIESR GDP estimate comes in strongly.
A separate report which showed that production in the UK’s industrial and manufacturing sectors also offered support for the high flying Sterling.
Canadian Dollar (CAD) Exchange Rates
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
Canadian Dollar,
,Pound Sterling,0.5443 ,
Canadian Dollar,,US Dollar,0.9174 ,
Canadian Dollar,,Euro,0.6699 ,
Canadian Dollar,,Australian Dollar,0.9794,
Canadian Dollar,,New Zealand Dollar,1.0708 ,
US Dollar,,Canadian Dollar,1.0900 ,
Pound Sterling,,Canadian Dollar,1.8359 ,
Euro,,Canadian Dollar,1.5017 ,
Australian Dollar,,Canadian Dollar,1.0208 ,
New Zealand Dollar,,Canadian Dollar,0.9353 ,
[/table]
Comments are closed.