TORONTO — Canada's main stock index crept lower on Friday while U.S. markets were also down, led by a 1.2-per cent loss on the Nasdaq after both countries saw fresh jobs data.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 68.66 points at 38,722.69.The S&P 500 index was down 33.67 points at 5,123.69, while the Nasdaq composite was down 188.26 points at 16,085.11.Friday’s much-anticipated jobs report in the U.S. was mixed, adding more jobs in February than expected while unemployment ticked higher, though it remains at historic lows.
Meanwhile, Canada also saw job gains in February, driven by full-time employment, while the unemployment rate ticked up by a tenth of a percentage point to 5.8 per cent. Strong population growth has been a recurring theme affecting the monthly jobs numbers as the workforce increases.“We've definitely seen some slowing in labour markets over the past year,” he said, but things haven’t been trending down significantly.
“In Canada, we may see that interest rate sensitivity pushing down on growth a little bit more than then we will in the U.S.” he said.