- Nonfarm payrolls in the U.S. increase by 201K in August.
- Unemployment in Canada rises to 6% from 5.8%.
- US Dollar Index jumps to a fresh session top near 95.20.
The USD/CAD pair gained traction and added more than 50 pips in a matter of minutes following the employment reports from the United States and Canada. At the moment, the pair is up 0.2% on the day at 1.3170.
The data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday showed that nonfarm payrolls rose by 201,000 on a monthly basis in August to beat the analysts’ expectation of 191,000. More importantly, the wage inflation measured by the average hourly earnings rose 0.4% and 2.9% on a monthly and yearly basis respectively to convince markets that the Fed remains on track to make two more rate hikes by the end of the year. As of writing, the US Dollar Index was up 0.23% on the day at 95.24.
On the other hand, Statistics Canada’s monthly report revealed that the employment fell by 52,000 in August to miss the market expectation of an increase by 5,000, and the unemployment rate rose to 6% from 5.8% in July to weigh on the loonie.
Later in the session, Ivey Purchasing Managers Index from Canada will be released, and the Dallas Fed President Kaplan will be delivering a speech.
Technical levels to consider
1.3200/05 (psychological level/Sep. 4 high) ahead of 1.3290 (Jul. 19 high) and 1.3385 (Jun. 27 high). On the downside, supports are located at 1.3110 (daily low), 1.3080 (50-DMA) and 1.3000 (psychological level).