Canadian Dollar Drops As Employment Unexpectedly Falls

The Canadian dollar depreciated against its major counterparts in the European session on Friday, as a data showed that the economy unexpectedly shed jobs in October.

Data from Statistics Canada showed that employment dropped unexpectedly in the month of October.

The report said that employment fell by 1,800 jobs in October after an increase of 53,700 jobs in the previous month. Economists had expected employment to rise by about 14,700 jobs.

The unemployment rate was 5.5 percent in October, unchanged from September and in line with economist estimates.

Separate data showed that Canadian building permits fell more than expected in September

Building permits fell 6.5 percent in September following a rise of 5.6 percent in the previous month. Economists had forecast a 2.0 percent fall.

The currency declined against its major counterparts in the Asian session, except the aussie.

The loonie declined to more than a 3-week low of 1.3232 against the greenback from Thursday's closing value of 1.3174. If the loonie falls further, it may find support around the 1.34 level.

Reversing from its early highs of 1.4545 against the euro and 83.05 against the yen, the loonie dropped to 1.4599 and 82.62, respectively. The next likely support for the loonie is seen around 1.49 against the euro and 80.5 against the yen.

The loonie retreated to 0.9082 against the aussie, from a high of 0.9055 hit at 6:45 am ET. The loonie is seen finding support around the 0.92 region.

Looking ahead, University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for November and U.S. wholesale sales for September will be released at 10:00 am ET.