Investing.com - The U.S. dollar tumbled to a more than two-year low against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, as the release of disappointing U.S. employment data weighed heavily on the greenback.
USD/CAD was down 0.76% at 1.2390 by 09.30 a.m. ET (13:30 GMT), the pair's lowest since June 2015.
The greenback weakened broadly after the U.S. Labor Department said the economy added 156,000 jobs in August, disappointing expectations for an increase of 179,000. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4% this month from 4.3% in July, confounding expectations for an unchanged reading.
The report also showed that average hourly earnings only rose 0.1% in August, compared to expectations for a 0.2% gain.
The weak data came after a string of mixed U.S. economic reports on Thursday had already dampened optimism over the economy. It was also expected to lower chances of another rate hike by the Federal Reserve in December.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar still benefited from the previous session's data showing that the country's economy grew at the fastest pace in nearly six years in the second quarter.
However, the loonie's gains were capped, as oil prices continued to be pressured lower by refinery shut downs in the Gulf Coast.
According to company reports, record flooding in Texas caused by hurricane Harvey has paralyzed at least 4.4 million barrels per day of refining capacity.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD declining 0.87% to 1.4743.