Loonie Jumps on Surprise Jobs Data from North America

The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart after employment reports from both Canada and the United States beat expectations.

Canada's economy added 91,000 jobs in November, far surpassing the 25,000 gain expected by economists.

The unemployment rate held steady at 5.7%, as more people entered the labor force.

In the U.S., the economy added 199,000 nonfarm payrolls, beating the consensus estimate of 180,000, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.7%.