By MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, May 8 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar was stronger Friday morning, as a firmer tone in crude oil provided some support.
At 8:39 CDT Friday morning the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7169 or C$1.3949 which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US$0.7135 or C$1.4015.
Canada lost nearly two million jobs in April, as COVID-19 was felt across the country, according to the latest Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada. The country’s unemployment rate rose to 13 per cent, up 5.2 points from the previous month.
Many economists had anticipated even larger job losses, although of the people still working many reported significantly reduced hours.
In the United States, the Labor Department reported job losses of 20.5 million in April, the worst monthly decline on record. The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 14.7 per cent, the largest since the Great Depression. That compares with a U.S. unemployment rate of only 3.5 per cent in February, before the pandemic.
The TSX was up by 103.36 points at 8:39 CDT to trade at 14,937.05 points.
