THE TAKEAWAY:Canada Net Change in Employment was 82.3 Thousand in March, Unemployment Rate Falls to 7.2 Percent> Employment growth accelerates as Full-time Work Surges>CAD Strengthens vs. Most of its Major Peers
The labor force report issued by Statics Canada today draws a rosy picture about Canadian economic prospects as March employment unexpectedly grew the most since 2008, mostly in full-time work. The economy surprisingly added 82.3 thousand jobs last month, after slashing 2.8 thousand in February. The reading was well above consensus forecast as twenty-four economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a modest gain of 10.5 thousand. From a year earlier, employment edged up 1.1 percent.
The improvement in March labor market situation was mainly attributable to growth in full-time employment which was up 181 thousand (+1.3%) while part-time employment increased. New hires were notably rose among private sector, and increased in public sector and the self-employed. Regarding to sectors, health care and social assistance, information, culture and creation and public administration reported substantial employment gains. In contrast, educational services registered employment loss.
As a consequence of 82.3 thousand jobs created in the month, unemployment rate for Mach falls to 7.2 percent, the lowest level since September 2011.
USDCAD 1-minute Chart: April 05, 2012
Chart created using Strategy Trader – Prepared by Trang Nguyen
Following the stronger-than-expected employment report, the Canadian currency jumped versus most of its major peers to reverse earlier losses. As seen on the 1-minute USDCAD chart above, the Canadian dollar strengthened approximately 65 pips against the greenback from 0.9985 to 0.9920 in twenty-five minutes. At the time this report was written, a U.S. dollar trades at $C0.99344.
--- Written by Trang Nguyen, DailyFX Research Team for DailyFX.com
To contact Trang, email tnguyen@dailyfx.com
