Canada’s dollar was little changed after a government report showed the economy added jobs for a fourth-consecutive month in July. Employment rose by 7,100 on a seasonally adjusted basis, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa, less than the 15,000 median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 27 economists. The jobless rate fell to 7.2 percent from 7.4 percent in June, while economists had forecast the jobless rate would be unchanged. The Canadian currency rose 0.1 percent to 98.06 cents per U.S. dollar at 7:03 a.m. in Toronto. One Canadian dollar buys $1.0198. Canada’s dollar weakened by the most in more than a year as investors spurned risk-associated assets on concern the global economy is slowing. “The loonie won’t increase significantly because of the market context,” said Rahim Madhavji, president of Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc., in a telephone interview from Toronto. “But it will help position and prevent the further decline of the loonie should equity and oil prices continue to fall off.” The yield on the December 2011 bankers’ acceptances, a barometer of short-term interest rate expectations, fell to 1.28 percent yesterday, the lowest since the contract started trading in December 2008, as traders slashed bets the central bank would raise rates amid slowing global growth. The Bank of Canada has held the benchmark overnight rate at 1 percent since September after raising it three times last year. Governor Mark Carney said July 20 the central bank won’t be “mechanical” in raising rates during the recovery, because of the risks posed by a strong currency and slow U.S. growth. The central bank published a note that day that said interest rates can remain below their long-run average even after the economy recovers, if economic “headwinds” are slowing growth. To contact the reporter for this story: Joe Ragazzo in New York at jragazzo@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net

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