Briefing highlights
- Canadian dollar marks an August milestone
- 26,000 jobs created, but unemployment edges up
- Video: Use of social media in the office
The loonie's rebound
The Canadian dollar has had a notable summer.
That doesn’t mean it will stay that way. But for now,as BMO Nesbitt Burns says of the loonie, “it’s baaaack.”
The loonie traded above year-earlier levels for the month of August, said BMO Nesbitt Burns chief economist Douglas Porter, noting it’s the first time that has happened in almost four years.
“Some of the rebound in the currency no doubt reflects a broader softening in the [U.S. dollar], Mr. Porter said in a research note.
“But note that the [Canadian dollar] is also up slightly year-over-year against a basket of other major currencies,” he added.
“Also helping has been the fact that oil has finally nudged above year-ago levels, as well, in recent weeks.”
The loonie, now at just below 77 cents U.S. in the wake of the Canadian jobs report, softened somewhat after the Bank of Canada statement earlier in the week, when it held its key rate steady and painted a dovish picture.
Even with that, Mr. Porter said, the loonie is up by about 3 per cent from a year ago.
Observers believe the loonie will sink again, possibly to about 74 or 75 cents, a prediction that picked up steam after the Bank of Canada’s comments.
As The Globe and Mail’s David Parkinson reports, the central bank is worried about the state of Canadian exports, which it hopes will juice the flagging economy and which are boosted by a lower currency.
“This stability in the [Canadian dollar] comes at a time when the BoC is now openly fretting about the country’s punk export performance – fretting that is perhaps aimed at unsettling the currency stability,” Mr. Porter said.
Jobless rate inches up
Unemployment in Canada is now back up to 7 per cent as more people hunt for work.
The economy churned out 26,000 jobs in August, Statistics Canada said, but the labour force also rose.
Public sector work was on the rise, and private sector positions little changed, The Globe and Mail’s Rachelle Younglai reports.
Notable is that when it all nets out, a modest 77,000 jobs have been created in the past year, and all of them part-time positions, though full-time work rose last month.
Almost 1.4 million Canadians can’t find work now.