By MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Aug. 5 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar was weaker Friday morning, as weakness in crude oil weighed on the energy-linked currency. Diverging jobs data from the United States and Canada added to the softer tone.
At 8:53 a.m. CDT Friday morning the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7710 or US$1=C$1.2970, which compares with Thursday’s close of US$0.7780 or US$1=C$1.2854.
Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 per cent in July, with Statistics Canada reporting a small decline of 30,600 jobs during the month. Meanwhile, nonfarm payrolls in the United States were up by 528,000 jobs in July, according to the U.S. Labor Department, taking that country’s unemployment rate to 3.5 per cent. The U.S. dollar saw some broad strength internationally on the back of the employment data.
Crude oil remained pointed lower on Friday, with West Texas Intermediate down by 0.9 per cent at US$87.76 per barrel.
The TSX was down by 81.87 points at 8:53 CDT, trading at 19,495.17 points.
