The Canadian Press) TORONTO – The Canadian dollar was slightly lower Thursday as Canada's trade position worsened in December.
The loonie was down 0.08 of a cent to 90.15 cents US as Statistics Canada reported that the trade deficit widened to $1.7 billion in December, from $1.5 billion in November.
The agency reported that merchandise imports grew by 1.2% in December while exports increased 0.9%.
Traders are now focused on Canadian employment data for January, which comes out Friday. Economists looked for a gain of about 20,000 jobs.
The U.S. government's employment report for January also comes out Friday. Economists expect that 183,000 jobs were created during the month following a meagre 57,000 gain in December that was largely blamed on the weather.
On Thursday, traders took in the latest reading on U.S. jobless insurance claims, which are a proxy for layoffs. They fell last week by a greater than expected 20,000 to 331,000 for last week.