Pound Sterling to Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) Exchange Rate slipped to month and a half low

The GBP to CAD exchange rate slipped to its lowest level in over a month on Friday afternoon after a report showed that Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 6.9% in March as Canadian employers created more jobs than forecast.

According to Statistics Canada, employers in the North American country created 42,900 new jobs in March; the figure was double that expected by economists and sent the nation’s unemployment rate down to its lowest level since before the recession.

The decline of 7,000 jobs recorded in February was easily wiped out. Economists had been expecting a rise of 22,500 new jobs and expected the jobless rate to remain unchanged at 7%.

“Overall it was a strong number with strong details, and that’s positive for Canada. What we have left is where that leaves Governor Stephen Poloz. Should he sound as dovish as he did the other week on April 16th, which will revive the weakness story. Should he sound quite neutral, that will bring further gains for the Canadian Dollar,” said the head of currency strategy at Bank of Nova Scotia in an interview with Bloomberg.

The Canadian Dollar to US Dollar exchange rate climbed to a one-month high after that US Dollar was weakened by the release of a weaker than expected nonfarm payrolls report. Economists had been forecasting for the report to come in strongly, instead it came in below forecasts.

The ‘Loonie’ was also higher against the Euro after the single currency was under pressure from yesterdays European Central Bank policy meeting in which ECB President Mario Draghi talked down the risk of deflation in the region, a view not shared by many economists.