Investing.com – The Canadian dollar rose on Friday after the U.S. economy unexpectedly lost thousands of jobs due to Hurricane Irma and Harvey.
The USD/CAD rose 13% to 1.2582 after nonfarm payrolls declined by 33,000 in September, compared to the rise of 169,000 a month earlier that was revised up from the initial increase of 156,000.
The loss was short of the 90,000 jobs economists expected. It was an unexpected end of what had been a week of data pointing to a strengthening U.S. economy.
The jobless rate ticked down to 4.2% last month, while average hourly earnings rose month-to-month by 0.5%, beating analysts’ expectations. The increase in wages is closely watched by the Federal Reserve for signs of inflation and slack in the labor market.
In Canada, the unemployment rate fell to 6.2% in September as the economy created 10,000 jobs compared to 22,000 the month prior. Analysts had expected 14,500 jobs.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.19% to 93.95.
The move weakened both the sterling and the euro, which were both weighed down by Brexit and Catalan independence uncertainty.
GBP/USD was down 0.51% to 1.3049 while EUR/USD fell 0.12% to 1.1696. USD/JPY was up 0.42% to 113.28.