Greenback gains ground vs. loonie after nonfarm payrolls beat estimates

Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, boosted by the release of strong U.S. employment data, while rather disappointing jobs data from Canada weighed on the nation's currency.

USD/CAD hit 1.1442 during early U.S. trade, the pair's highest since December 1; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.1416, rising 0.28%.

The pair was likely to find support at 1.1343, the low of December 3 and resistance at 1.1460, the high of December 1.

In a report, the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 321,000 jobs in November, exceeding expectations for jobs growth of 225,000. October's figure was revised up to 243,000 from a previously estimated 214,000, pointing to underlying strength in the labor market.

The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8% last month, in line with expectations.

A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit hit $43.40 billion in October, down from $43.60 billion in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of $43.00 billion. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to $41.20 billion in October.

Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reported that the number of employed people declined by 10.700 last month, compared to expectations for an increase of 5,300. The number of employed people rose by 43,100 in October.

Canada's unemployment rate ticked up to 6.6% in November from 6.5% the previous month, in line with expectations.

Data also showed that Canada's trade surplus narrowed to C$0.10 billion in October from C$0.31 billion in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated surplus of C$0.71 billion. Analysts had expected the trade surplus to hit C$0.40 billion in October.