By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, August 15 – The Canadian dollar was higher on Friday as revised jobs data blew past expectations, analysts say.
At 9:10 CDT Friday morning, the loonie was ahead 0.21 of a cent to US$0.9193 or US$1 = C$1.0911 as Statistics Canada reported that the economy added 42,000 jobs in July. Economists had generally expected that 20,000 jobs would be created.
Earlier this week, Stats Can had announced that an error had been detected in its original jobs data released last Friday, which showed the economy adding a meager 200 jobs.
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The federal agency says that the error was a result of a major redesign of its market-moving Labour Force Survey that occurs every ten years when one program was not updated, which it calls a human error. The mistake resulted in Stats Can overestimating full-time job losses.
Solid manufacturing numbers also pushed the loonie higher, as Stats Can reported that manufacturing sales rose 0.6 per cent in June to $52 billion, which is the fifth gain is six months. This gain stemmed from a three month increase in non-durable goods sales, led by chemical, petroleum and coal product as well as the food industries, traders say.
The agency added that lower sales in the motor vehicle industry offset a portion of the gains in June. Sales were down by 8.6 per cent to $4.5 billion, the first decrease in two months.
Tensions eased slightly in the Russia and Ukraine standoff as Russia let Ukraine officials inspect an aid convoy on Friday and agreed to let the International Red Cross distribute the aid around the rebel-held city of Luhansk, which lightened Ukrainian fears that the operation was a cover to get Russian troops into separatist-held territory.
At 9:10 CDT Friday morning, the TSX was down 17.22 points to 15,273.96.
