The loonie took a slight drop and closed at 98.07 US after Statistics Canada reported the economy lost 18,700 jobs in December that is after 7 months of gains. The unemployment rate remained at 5.9 per cent.
The CP
report said that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says that a dollar worth the Bank of Canada's target of about 95 cents US would be a good thing.
"We support the monetary policy of the Bank of Canada," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said. The bank of Canada has set a target for the loonie at about 95 cents US.
The Canadian dollar is a market currency and that means that there will be movement.
"The job numbers we got this morning were pretty astonishing," said Eric Lascelles, chief of economics and rate strategist at TD Securities.
"This is the first time we've seen a job loss of this magnitude since May 2003. I know market watchers are particularly concerned by the fact that the private sector shed 51,000 jobs in the month."
The Finance department anticipates "somewhat lower economic growth in Canada this year".
"We still anticipate economic growth in Canada, (but) more moderate economic growth. We're affected by what happens in the United States, but our economic fundamentals are stronger than the American economic fundamentals." said Flaherty.
