When is the Canadian jobs report and how could it affect USD/CAD?

Canadian employment details overview

Statistics Canada is scheduled to publish the monthly jobs report for June later this Friday at 12:30 GMT. According to the consensus estimates, the Canadian economy is expected to have added 700K jobs during the reported month. This comes on the back of the previous month's rise of 289K jobs, which might be enough to push the unemployment rate down to 12% from 13.7% previous.

How could the data affect USD/CAD?

Given that the recent price action has been primarily driven by developments surrounding the coronavirus saga and oil price dynamics, Friday's report seems unlikely to influence the USD/CAD pair. Nevertheless, the data might still provide some impetus and assist traders to grab some short-term opportunities on the last day of the week.

Heading into the important release, the USD/CAD pair surrendered a major part of its early gains to 1-1/2-week tops and was seen trading just below the 1.3600 round-figure mark. Stronger-than-expected figures should provide a modest lift to the Canadian dollar. The pair might then accelerate the intraday retracement slide and aim back to challenge the key 1.3500 psychological mark.

Conversely, a weaker report might provide a modest lift, though bulls are likely to wait for a sustained move beyond the 1.3625-30 supply zone before positioning for any further gains. The subsequent positive move should lift the pair further towards the 1.3700 mark, which is closely followed by late June swing highs, around the 1.3715 region.

Key Notes

  •   Canada Net Change in Employment June Preview: June is looking better and better

  •   Canada Net Change in Employment Preview: Seven major banks expectations for June jobs report

  •   USD/CAD to test June lows at 1.33 on a magnificent jobs report – TDS

About the Employment Change

The employment Change released by Statistics Canada is a measure of the change in the number of employed people in Canada. Generally speaking, a rise in this indicator has positive implications for consumer spending which stimulates economic growth. Therefore, a high reading is seen as positive, or bullish for the CAD, while a low reading is seen as negative or bearish.

About the Unemployment Rate

The Unemployment Rate released by Statistics Canada is the number of unemployed workers divided by the total civilian labour force. It is a leading indicator for the Canadian Economy. If the rate is up, it indicates a lack of expansion within the Canadian labour market. As a result, a rise leads to weaken the Canadian economy. Normally, a decrease of the figure is seen as positive (or bullish) for the CAD, while an increase is seen as negative or bearish.