Canadian, U.S. jobs reports out, Friday

Our neighbor to the North also suffered from an unexpectedly weak jobs report today, the worst monthly job losses in more than four years. Canada shed 54,500 positions in March, more than wiping out the 50,700 jobs that were added in February, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Market operators had expected a modest gain of 8,500 jobs.

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OTTAWA — We already know Canada’s economy ended last year in dismal shape. While no one is predicting a healthy turnaround this year, you may soon see some stronger vital signs. In a week of clustered economic data — from interest rates to employment numbers — a major Canadian bank says, “based on admittedly slim evidence,” the first quarter of 2013 could bring surprising — though not great — growth.

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar was slightly weaker against its U.S. counterpart on Friday ahead of key employment reports from both countries. At 7:49 a.m. (1149 GMT) the Canadian dollar was trading at C$0.9980 to the greenback, or $1.0020, compared with C$0.9968, or $1.0032, at Thursday's North American close. U.S. job growth likely picked up in October, but not enough to prevent the unemployment rate from rising off a near four-year low. [ID:nL1E8LU2Y1] Canada likely added very few jobs in the month after two bumper gains. ...

The Canadian dollar climbed against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, lifted by market expectations that a pair of jobs reports in Canada and U.S. on Friday will bolster recovery hopes.

Hilco, the restructuring expert, is expected to sign an agreement on Friday morning to acquire around 130 HMV-branded stores and nine outlets that trade under the Fopp brand, reports The Telegraph.

The Canadian dollar stumbled against the U.S.

The Canadian dollar extended losses against its U.S. peer after the nation unexpectedly lost jobs last month.