Loonie advances after positive employment data

The Canadian dollar rose against most major rivals on Friday following positive labor data.

The Canadian  government reported an addition of 24.9 thousand jobs to the economy in November, beating estimates of 14.2 thousand.

The data also showed unemployment rose to 5.8% as expected last month from 5.7% in October.

CAD/USD rose 0.5% as of 21:24 GMT to 0.7410. 

Yen

Dollar fell against yen as of 21:24 GMT by 0.9% to 146.8. 

Government data showed Japan's unemployment rate fell to 2.5% in October from 2.6%. 

US Dollar

The dollar index fell 0.3% as of 21:03 GMT to 103.2, with a session-high at 103.7, and a low at 103.1.

Government data showed the ISM manufacturing PMI in the US stable at 46.7, missing estimates of 47.9. 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday that talks about interest rate cuts are premature as the battle of inflation remains unfinished.

He asserted the Fed intends to maintain tight monetary conditions until inflation firmly heads towards 2%. 

He said that inflation remains much higher than targets but is moving the right direction, so the right path to take now is a cautious one, while continuously monitoring data to determine upcoming steps.