Upbeat French Employment Figures Bolster EUR/CAD
The Euro Canadian Dollar (EUR/CAD) exchange rate is trending higher this morning, as markets react to France’s latest employment report.
At the time of writing EUR/CAD is up nearly 0.2%, with the pairing close to striking a two-year high.
Euro (EUR) Strengthened by Impressive French Employment Figures
The Euro’s recent advance against the Canadian Dollar looks set to extend even further today as markets welcome the latest French employment statistics.
According to data published by France’s national statistics office, INSEE this morning, unemployment fell to 8.9% in the fourth quarter, its lowest levels since 2009.
The figures showed that unemployment fell by 205,000 to 2.5m at the end of 2017 and also saw the previous quarter’s figures revised down from 9.7% to 9.6%.
With unemployment being stuck in double digits for the past several years, today’s data shown that there has been considerable downtrend in recent months.
This suggests that President Emmanuel Macron’s attempts to implement economic reforms are having some effect, with the passing of wide-ranging labour reforms in September appearing to have led to a notable improvement.
However despite the uptick in employment, Macron still faces some pressure at home following retailer Carrefour’s announcement of huge job cuts, with the flexibility to hire and fire staff implemented by his government coming under fire.
Oil Gains Prevent Major Losses for Canadian Dollar (CAD)
Meanwhile the Canadian Dollar losses this morning have been limited by a lift in oil prices this morning.
After stumbling yesterday on reports that US crude inventories may have surged by as much as 4m barrels last week, oil rebounded as US stocks were shown to have only reached 1.8m.
This saw Brent crude enjoy its largest one-day rise since late December as it soared 2.6% to $64.36 a barrel.
While this still leaves prices well below the high of $71 a barrel struck last month, it was enough to prevent the Canadian Dollar from experiencing any major losses this morning.
EUR/CAD Forecast:
Looking ahead the EUR/CAD exchange rate may be able to further build on its recent gains with the publication of Germany’s latest Wholesale Price figures.
Economists forecast that tomorrow’s data will show that price’s rebounded from a 0.3% contraction at the end of last year to rise 0.2% in January.
Meanwhile the Canadian Dollar may stumble later this afternoon as Canada’s latest payroll figures are expected to show that the slump in employment accelerated in January as seasonal contracts came to an end.
