A Canadian one dollar coin, also know as a loonie, is shown in Montreal in 2006.Shaun Best/Reuters
The Canadian dollar surged almost three-quarters of a cent as Canadian job creation figures for October blew past expectations.
The loonie closed 0.72 of a cent higher at 88.24 cents (U.S.) after Statistics Canada reported that the economy created 43,100 jobs last month.
Analysts had forecast a loss of about 5,000 jobs after the economy cranked out 74,000 jobs in September.
The Canadian unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since November, 2008, dropping sharply to 6.5 per cent from 6.8 per cent in September.
U.S. jobs data were softer than expected with 215,000 positions created during the month, lower than the 235,000 reading that economists had expected.
However, the U.S. jobless rate also fell, dropping to 5.8 per cent from 5.9 per cent.
Other economic data out Friday showed that Germany's exports rose sharply in September and factory production was also up.
Exports rose 5.5 per cent from August in seasonally and calendar adjusted figures, almost offsetting the 5.8 per cent drop of the previous month. Imports rose 5.4 per cent, widening the trade surplus to €18.5-billion. Industrial production rose 1.4 per cent from August.
Germany's economy shrank 0.2 per cent in the second quarter and many have predicted a third-quarter drop when figures come out next week – putting the country into a technical recession.
Commodity prices were higher in the wake of the jobs data with December crude 74 cents higher to $78.65 a barrel.
December copper was up 2 two cents to $3.04 a pound while December gold bullion gained $27.20 to $1,169.80 an ounce.