Canadian jobs also in the spotlight this afternoon- check out the USD/CAD

As is so often the case, the Canadian monthly jobs report will be released at exactly the same time as the US equivalent, at 12.30pm GMT. Now of course the BOC has already lowered rates this week, to perhaps the impact of this data (whatever it is) might be less dramatic than usual. As far as the BOC is concerned, they probably hope for a number on the weak side, so as to justify the policy action they undertook on Wednesday. Also, given this release is simultaneous with that from the US, it will make for confused and tricky trading immediately as all the data hits the screens at once. The focus here will be on the US report and an update on Canada will follow as soon as possible afterwards. The markets expect the unemployment rate to rise slightly in May, to 6.2% from 6.1% in April. The payroll count is forecast to rise by around 22k, compared to the prior rise of 90.4k. Ahead of this report, the USD/CAD has been camped south of the 1.37 handle again and so far today showing little appetite to reclaim levels above that price point. The USD/CAD is currently trading at 1.3683