Canada’s currency weakened for the first day in four ahead of a government report that may show the unemployment rate in the U.S. rose to the highest in a quarter century. “The Canadian dollar seems to be in a holding pattern,” said Steve Butler, director of foreign-exchange trading in Toronto at Scotia Capital Inc., a unit of Canada’s third-largest lender. The U.S. buys about three-quarters of Canada‘s exports, the largest trading relationship in the world. The Canadian dollar, known as the loonie, weakened 0.2 percent to C$1.2404 per U.S. dollar at 8:05 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.2376 yesterday. One Canadian dollar buys 80.63 U.S. cents. The unemployment rate in February climbed to 8.5 percent from 8.1 percent, according to the median of 79 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Today’s report from the Labor Department may also show employers cut 660,000 workers, bringing total losses since the recession began to 5 million, the biggest slump in the postwar era. The report is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Canada’s currency will depreciate to C$1.27 against the U.S. dollar by the end of June, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 40 economists.

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