Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose to fresh five-year highs against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, as upbeat U.S. employment data added to optimism over the strength of the U.S. job market, while Canada released a disappointing jobs report.
USD/CAD hit 1.1890 during early U.S. trade, the pair's highest since May 2009; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.1864, gaining 0.28%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.1792, Thursday's low and resistance at 1.1951.
In a report, the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 252,000 jobs in December, exceeding expectations for an increase of 240,000. November's figure was revised to a 353,000 gain from a previously estimated 321,000 rise.
The report also showed that the U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 5.6% last month from 5.8% in November, compared to expectations for a decline to 5.7%.
The report came a day after data showed that U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 4,000 to 294,000 last week, just slightly above expectations of 290,000, and two days after data showed that the U.S. private sector added a larger-then-forecast 241,000 jobs in December.
Also Friday, Statistics Canada reported that the number of employed people declined by 4,300 last month, condounding expectations for a 15,000 rise, after a 10,700 drop in November.
Canada's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.6% in December, in line with expectations.
A separate report showed that Canada's building permits dropped by 13.8% in November, compared to expectations for a 1.0% rise, after a revised 2.1% increase in October.
The loonie was also lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD edging up 0.21% to 1.3982.