Canada's September employment plunged 68,300 versus expectations of a gain

• The prior month's employment change was a loss of 41,700 jobs.

Details for September:

• Employment fell by 68,300, while analysts had forecast an increase of 9,200. The previous month saw a decline of 41,700.
• The unemployment rate was 6.5%, matching expectations, after 6.4% in August.
• Full-time employment dropped by 35,400, compared with a loss of 35,900 in the prior period.
• Part-time employment decreased by 32,900, reversing an earlier gain of 5,800.
• The participation rate declined to 64.8% from 65.0%.
• Average hourly wages for permanent employees rose 2.3% year-over-year, accelerating from 2.0% previously.

The US-Canada trade war intensified in September and appears to have hurt the economy, marking a second consecutive month of large job losses. The unemployment rate held steady only because the participation rate fell by 0.2 percentage points. Moreover, wage pressures increased, a move that is likely to trouble the Bank of Canada.

USD/CAD was at 1.4232 ahead of the data release and jumped to 1.4293 afterward.