TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar was on the defensive against most currencies on Friday after a rise in U.S. jobless claims and a dip in Treasury yields dampened the appeal of holding the greenback.
The yuan jumped to a seven-month high against the dollar, showing that even U.S.-Sino diplomatic tension was not enough to deter traders who are bullish on China’s economic outlook.
The euro, which has been the biggest beneficiary of a recent decline in the dollar, will come into focus later on Friday as traders brace for euro zone manufacturing data.
A larger-than-expected rise in weekly U.S. jobless claims came just one day after Fed officials warned that a recovery in hiring is starting to slow, raising doubts about how quickly the world’s largest economy will bounce back from the coronavirus.
Concern about the U.S. economy, combined with an excess supply of dollars already in circulation due to the Fed’s massive quantitative easing, are likely to weigh on the U.S. currency in coming weeks, analysts say.
“Sentiment for the dollar is weak, reflecting all the QE and the decline in real U.S. yields,” said Tsutomu Soma, a credit trader at Monex Securities.
“On the flip side, the euro is strong because Europe has already put a firm backstop in place to support economic growth, which has boosted confidence in the euro and euro-zone bonds.”
The dollar stood at $1.1867 per euro on Friday in Asia following a 0.2% decline in the previous session.
The British pound bought $1.3229, holding onto a 0.8% gain made on Thursday.
The dollar also nursed losses against the safe harbour Swiss franc , last trading at 0.9074 in Asia on Friday.
The onshore yuan rose to 6.8969 per dollar, the highest since Jan. 22. Offshore, the yuan briefly hit 6.8935, its strongest since Jan. 21.
China’s currency has recovered all of its losses since the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus first broke out, was first put on lockdown.
The greenback was quoted at 105.72 yen after a 0.3% decline on Thursday.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose back above the 1 million mark last week, data showed on Thursday in a setback for a U.S. job market that has been crippled by the coronavirus pandemic.
A slight decline in Treasury yields was another factor working against the greenback.
The dollar index =USD> against a basket of six currencies was on course for its ninth consecutive weekly decline.
Sentiment for the dollar and risk assets like equities had already taken a hit after dovish minutes from the Fed’s most recent meeting, which were released on Wednesday.
Traders in the euro are looking ahead to the release later Friday of manufacturing data for the euro zone and for Germany, Europe’s largest economy.
The growing consensus is the euro will continue to edge higher because European governments have taken decisive action on stimulus measures to support growth.
In comparison, U.S. Republicans and Democrats are still at loggerheads over additional economic stimulus, which analysts said is another reason to favour the euro over the dollar.
Elsewhere in currencies, the Australian dollar edged up to $0.7202, while the New Zealand dollar held steady at $0.6539.
(Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Sam Holmes)
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says retail sales rose 0.4 per cent to $66.6 billion in August, helped by higher new car sales.
The agency says sales were up in four of nine subsectors as sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers rose 3.5 per cent, boosted by a 4.3 per cent increase at new car dealers and a 2.1 per cent gain at used car dealers.
Core retail sales — which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers — fell 0.4 per cent in August.
Sales at food and beverage retailers dropped 1.5 per cent, while furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances retailers fell 1.4 per cent.
In volume terms, retail sales increased 0.7 per cent in August.
Looking ahead, Statistics Canada says its advance estimate of retail sales for September points to a gain of 0.4 per cent for the month, though it cautioned the figure would be revised.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2024.
OTTAWA – The federal government is expected to boost the minimum hourly wage that must be paid to temporary foreign workers in the high-wage stream as a way to encourage employers to hire more Canadian staff.
Under the current program’s high-wage labour market impact assessment (LMIA) stream, an employer must pay at least the median income in their province to qualify for a permit. A government official, who The Canadian Press is not naming because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the change, said Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault will announce Tuesday that the threshold will increase to 20 per cent above the provincial median hourly wage.
The change is scheduled to come into force on Nov. 8.
As with previous changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program, the government’s goal is to encourage employers to hire more Canadian workers. The Liberal government has faced criticism for increasing the number of temporary residents allowed into Canada, which many have linked to housing shortages and a higher cost of living.
The program has also come under fire for allegations of mistreatment of workers.
A LMIA is required for an employer to hire a temporary foreign worker, and is used to demonstrate there aren’t enough Canadian workers to fill the positions they are filling.
In Ontario, the median hourly wage is $28.39 for the high-wage bracket, so once the change takes effect an employer will need to pay at least $34.07 per hour.
The government official estimates this change will affect up to 34,000 workers under the LMIA high-wage stream. Existing work permits will not be affected, but the official said the planned change will affect their renewals.
According to public data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 183,820 temporary foreign worker permits became effective in 2023. That was up from 98,025 in 2019 — an 88 per cent increase.
The upcoming change is the latest in a series of moves to tighten eligibility rules in order to limit temporary residents, including international students and foreign workers. Those changes include imposing caps on the percentage of low-wage foreign workers in some sectors and ending permits in metropolitan areas with high unemployment rates.
Temporary foreign workers in the agriculture sector are not affected by past rule changes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.
However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.
The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.
The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.
The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
