9 October 2009

Loonie jumps on jobs data

The following was reported on in today's edition of "globeandmail.com".

The Canadian dollar powered to its highest level in more than a year Friday, hitting 95.93 cents (U.S.) in morning trading – and rekindling speculation on when it might reach parity with the U.S. dollar.

The loonie jumped almost a cent on news that the Canadian economy created 31,000 new jobs in September, lowering the unemployment rate to 8.3 per cent from 8.4 per cent. It wavered only slightly a few hours later when Statistics Canada reported that Canada's trade deficit increased to a record $2-billion in September.

The loonie last reached parity with the U.S. dollar, in intraday trading, in July, 2008 – and it could break through parity again before the end of this year, although not on a sustainable basis, Bank of Nova Scotiacurrency analyst Camilla Sutton said in an interview.