By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, September 5 – The Canadian dollar was slightly weaker against its US counterpart at midday Friday, undermined by a report that said the country lost 11,000 jobs last month.
According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at seven percent. There were also fewer youths between the ages of 15 to 25 working last month.
In contract, the US Labour Department reported that 142,000 jobs were added in August. The department also said the unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent.
That report is keenly being watched by the US Federal Reserve which is gauging when it can start hiking interest rates.
The December copper contract rose 1 cent to US$3.15 a pound. The October crude oil contract fell US$1.20 to US$93.25 a barrel. December gold rose one US$1.00 to $1,267.50 an ounce.
At 11:50 CDT Friday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9188 or US$1.0883, which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US$0.9196, or US$=$1.0874.
At 11:50 CDT Friday, the Toronto Stock Exchange was down 22.71 points to sit at 15,554.08.
