Investing.com - The U.S. dollar dropped against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, after the release of strong Canadian jobs data, although an equally positive employment report from the U.S. was expected to limit the greenback’s decline.
USD/CAD hit 1.3428 during early U.S. trade, the pair’s lowest since Wednesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3439, retreating 0.53%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3395, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.3536, Thursday’s high and a nore than two-month peak.
Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the number of employed people increased by 15,300 in February, beating expectations for a 2,500 rise and after a 48,300 climb the previous month.
Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 6.6% last month from 6.8% in January. Analysts had expected an unchanged reading last month.
The commodity-related Canadian dollar was also boosted by a rally in oil prices on Friday, although they were still below the $50 a barrel threshold.
In the U.S., the Labor Department said the economy added 235,000 jobs last month, beating expectations for an increase of 200.000. The economy created 238,000 jobs in January, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated gain of 227,000.
The U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 4.7% in February from 4.8% the previous month, in line with expectations.
The strong numbers added to expectations for a rate hike by the Federal Reserve at its highly-anticipated policy meeting next week.
The report also showed that average hourly earnings rose 0.2% last month, compared to expectations for an increase of 0.3%.
The loonie was steady against the euro, with EUR/CAD at 1.4294.