Canada April employment change +7.4K versus +2.5K expected

• Prior was -32.6K

• Unemployment rate +6.9% vs. 6.8% expected
• Prior unemployment 6.7%.
• Full-time employment +31.5K vs -32.6K last month
• part-time employment -24.2K vs. +29.5k last month.
• Participation rate 65.3% vs 65.2% last month.
• Average hourly wages permanent employees 3.5% vs 3.5% y/ last month

USD/CAD was at 1.3909 beforehand and little changed afterwards. This is a mixed report but I see more negatives than positives. The main positive was the rebound in full-time jobs but the negative was that unemployment rose to 6.9% from 6.7%, though some of that was from a tick up in participation. The unemployment rate matches the worst reading since 2021 and excluding the pandemic, it’s the worst since 2016.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.