Investing.com - The U.S. dollar dropped to two-and-a-half week lows against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, as U.S. nonfarm payroll data disappointed market projections, while a Canadian employment report came out better than expected.
USD/CAD hit 1.0988 during European afternoon trade, the pair's lowest since January 22; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0996, retreating 0.68%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0947, the low of January 21 and resistance at 1,1122, Thursday's high.
The greenback weakened broadly after the U.S. Labor Department said 113,000 jobs were added in January, less than the expected 185,000 increase. December's figure was revised up to a 75,000 rise from a previously estimated 74,000 increase.
The report also showed that 142,000 jobs were added in the U.S. private sector last month, compared to expectations for a 185,000 increase. In December, the number of jobs created in the private sector was revised up to 89,000 from a previously estimated 87,000.
The U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 6.6% last month, from 6.7% in December. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged in January.
Meanwhile, official data showed that Canada's economy added 29,400 jobs last month, exceeding expectations for a 20,000 increase, after a 44,000 decline in December.
Canada's unemployment rate ticked down to 7.0% in January, from 7.2% the previous month, in line with expectations.
The loonie was also higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD declining 0.63% to 1.4949.
The euro came under pressure after official data earlier showed that German industrial production fell 0.6% in December, confounding expectations for a 0.5% increase, after an upwardly revised 2.4% gain the previous month.
A separate report showed that Germany's trade surplus narrowed to EUR18.5 billion in December, from EUR18.9 billion the previous month. Analysts had expected the trade surplus to narrow to EUR17.3 billion in December.