BLBG: Canada Dollar Remains Lower on U.S. January Jobless Rate
The Canadian dollar remained lower versus its U.S. counterpart after a government report showed an unexpected increase in the unemployment rate in America, the nation’s largest trading partner.
The currency declined versus the majority of its most- traded peers as the U.S. January jobless rate increased to 7.9 percent, compared with a forecast for an unchanged rate of 7.8 percent, according to a survey of economists by Bloomberg News. Canada’s dollar fell last month for the first time since October.
The loonie, as the Canadian dollar is known for the image of the aquatic bird on the C$1 coin, lost 0.1 percent to 99.83 cents per U.S. dollar at 8:41 p.m. in Toronto. One Canadian dollar buys $1.0017.
Futures on crude oil, the nation’s largest export, fell 0.2 percent to $97.27 a barrel in New York. Western Canada Select, the benchmark for oil-sands bitumen, traded at a discount of $31.50 to U.S. West Texas Intermediate price, down from $32 yesterday. The discount reached a $42.50 on Dec. 14.
To contact the reporter on this story: Taylor Tepper in New York at ttepper2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net
