Canada’s dollar fell after a government report showed employers eliminated more jobs in May than economists forecast, curbing speculation the global slump may be easing. The currency dropped from near the highest level in eight months as Statistics Canada said the economy lost a net 41,800 jobs after an increase of 35,900 in April. The median forecast of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a reduction of 36,500. The unemployment rate rose to 8.4 percent, the statistics agency said. “That will shake people up a bit and certainly suggest that this economic recession will prove more dire than the Bank of Canada or most forecasters were looking for,” Dawn Desjardins, an economist at Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto, said before the report. Canada’s dollar, known as the loonie, depreciated 0.5 percent to C$1.1030 per U.S. dollar at 7:05 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.0970 yesterday. The loonie touched C$1.0785 on June 1, the strongest level since Oct. 3. The loonie rallied 11 percent against the U.S. dollar this year as prices of commodities including crude oil rose on speculation a revival in the global economy may be near. Raw materials account for more than half of Canada’s export revenue. The Canadian dollar will weaken to C$1.20 against its U.S. counterpart by year-end, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 43 economists.

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