An oil well is seen near Denver on Feb. 2.Rick Wilking/Reuters
The energy sector helped pull the Toronto stock market sharply lower amid worries that oil prices will further deteriorate.
Statistics Canada also reported that the economy shed 1,000 jobs during the month and the national unemployment rate rose 0.2 of a point to 6.8 per cent.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 146.32 points to 14,624.4 and the Canadian dollar was down 0.54 of a U.S. cent at 78.18 cents, a six-year low.
The TSX energy sector dropped two per cent as oil prices declined for a fourth day with the April contract down $1.80 to $45.25 (U.S.).
Oil prices were further depressed Friday after the International Energy Agency said U.S. oil production was up 115,000 barrels a day in February. They have collapsed since mid-summer, falling by more than 50 per cent amid a global glut of oversupply and until recently had held up around the $50 (U.S.) a barrel level.
The IEA warned that "behind the facade of stability, the rebalancing triggered by the price collapse has yet to run its course, and it might be overly optimistic to expect it to proceed smoothly."
"The stats have been pretty disappointing in terms of the builds in inventory, people are speculating now that the U.S. can't continue to build inventories because there's no place to put the inventories," said John Stephenson, president and CEO of Stephenson & Co. Capital Management.
"So I think we're heading towards the low 40s, maybe even high 30s before this is all said and done."
New York markets also tumbled as traders also looked to the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting on interest rates next week.
The Dow Jones industrials dropped 193.46 points to 17,701.76, the Nasdaq was down 33 points to 4,860.29 and the S&P 500 index shed 18.36 points to 2,047.59.
There has been much talk about when the Fed will start to hike interest rates from near zero, where they have been since the 2008 financial collapse. A strong U.S. jobs report a week ago raised speculation the Fed could move earlier than expected to raise rates, perhaps as early as June. But a weak retail sales report Thursday raised doubts about that timetable.
"This was a fairly sudden move up in the dollar ... The data are conflicting with PPI soft but the U.Mich inflation data is relatively strong. But this isn't so much about the data, rather the Fed and what to expect from next week's meetings," said Camilla Sutton, chief currency strategist at Scotia Capital in Toronto.
Elsewhere on the TSX, the base metals sector retreated 2.75 per cent while May copper was unchanged at $2.66 (U.S.) a pound.
The gold sector faded two per cent as April bullion was ahead $1 to US$1,153.80 an ounce.
The consumer staples sector dropped 0.5 per cent. But shares in convenience store chain Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. added 24 cents to $46.76 as the company said its proposed acquisition of The Pantry has passed the required waiting period under U.S. competition law, without changes. The US$1.7-billion deal which will add 1,500 locations in 13 states to Couche-Tard's North American network is expected to close Monday.
With files from Reuters