Canada: Unemployment rate held steady at 5.8 percent

According to Statistics Canada, Employment Change, or the number of people currently employed, increased by a meager 0.1K in the final month of 2023, falling short of initial estimates.

In addition, the unemployment rate held steady at 5.8%, average hourly earnings increased at an annualized rate of 5.7%, and the number of full-time workers shrank by 23.5K. Finally, part-time employment increased by 23.6K people and the participation rate declined a bit to 65.4% (from 65.6%).

USD/CAD, also supported by the stronger than expected US Nonfarm Payrolls (+216K), rose to a fresh two-week high just below the 1.3400 level.