Investing.com - The U.S. dollar extended its pullback from four-year highs against the Canadian dollar on Thursday, after data showed that the number of U.S. continuing jobless claims rose to the highest level since early July in the week ending January 4.
USD/CAD touched lows of 1.0905, the lowest level since Tuesday, and was last down 0.19% to 1.0913, moving further away from the four-year high of 1.0990 reached on Wednesday.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0857, the low of January 14 and resistance at 1.0961, the session high.
The U.S. dollar slipped after the Department of Labor said the number of people filing continuing unemployment claims rose back over three million to 3.03 million, up from 2.85 million, in the week to January 4.
U.S. employment data is being closely watched by investors since the latest nonfarm payrolls report showed that the economy added just 74,000 news jobs last month, well below expectations for 196,000.
However, the number of initial jobless claims fell by 2,000 last week to a six-week low of 326,000.
A separate report showed that the annual rate of consumer inflation in the U.S. rose 1.5% in December, up from 1.2% in November. Consumer prices were 0.3% higher from a month earlier.
Core inflation rose 0.1% from a month earlier in December and was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis.
Canada’s dollar remained under pressure after dismal employment data last week cemented expectations that the Bank of Canada will stick to its dovish stance on interest rates.
Elsewhere, the loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/CAD inching up 0.02% to 1.4881, not far from Wednesday’s high of 1.4988, the strongest since October 2010.