Canada: ADP Employment Change drops to -231.2K in January vs. -14.1K expected

• Private sector employment in Canada fell sharply at the end of 2020.
• USD/CAD continues to trade in the negative territory below 1.2700.

Private sector employment in Canada decreased by 231,200 jobs from December to January, the ADP Research Institue revealed in its monthly report on Thursday.

This reading missed the market expectation of -14,100 by a wide margin. On a positive note, the previous print got revised up to +338,200 from -28,800.

Commenting on the data, “January reported a decrease in jobs, the largest decrease since May 2020 during the lockdown period,” noted Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. “The surge in COVID-19 cases and public health restrictions resulted in mass layoffs. Job losses were reported in every sector, led by trade, transportation and utilities; leisure and hospitality; and construction.”

Market reaction

The USD/CAD pair recovered modestly from daily lows after this data and was last seen losing 0.15% on the day at 1.2680.