Canadian Dollar Surges on Strong Jobs Data

The Canadian dollar has reached an eight-week high against its US counterpart, driven by stronger-than-expected domestic jobs data. The loonie was trading 0.6% higher at 1.3935 per US dollar, or 71.76 US cents, its strongest intraday level since June 11.

Canada's employment rose by 75,100 jobs in July, exceeding expectations for a gain of 16,500, and the unemployment rate dropped to a two-year low of 6.4%. The data suggests that growth momentum seen in the second quarter may have carried on into the start of Q3.

Andrew Grantham, senior economist at CIBC Capital Markets, noted that the better-than-expected Canadian data contrasted with a weaker-than-anticipated US payrolls report, which saw the U.S. economy unexpectedly shed jobs in July and nonfarm payrolls for the prior two months revised sharply lower.