Early signals for markets are mixed Friday as investors compare the disappointing employment reports released today in Canada and the United States with a strong outlook from tech bellwether Intel.

The Canadian unemployment rate edged up to 7.3% in November, Statistics Canada said today. That’s a small increase from the 7.1% jobless rate reported in October.

The rise in the unemployment rate makes it less likely that the Bank of Canada will increase interest rates later this month.

The central bank make its next announcement on interest rates next Tuesday, while the U.S. Federal Reserve could make a move the following week.

The Canadian dollar opened at US83.63¢, down 0.1 of a cent. A two-day drop in oil prices contributed to the loonie’s drop of 0.75 of a U.S. cent on Thursday.

South of the border, the U.S. economy produced disappointing job growth in November as 112,000 positions were added last month, missing economists’ forecasts.

Economists had been expecting between 150,000 and 200,000 jobs to be added last month.

The November unemployment rate eased to 5.4% from October’s 5.5% as more job seekers found work.


In market news, the TSX Group Inc. yesteday named Richard Nesbitt as chief executive of Canada’s dominant stock exchange, taking over from Barbara Stymiest, who departed last month for a job at Royal Bank.

Stock markets closed mainly lower Thursday, as investor optimism over falling oil prices was offset by discouraging U.S. retail results. Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index fell 25.98 points, or 0.29%, at 9,038.49.

Energy stocks fell as the price of light, sweet crude backed off $2.24 to US$43.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite lost 37.08 points, or 2% to 1,718.77.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell back 5.10 points to 10,585.12. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed 5.34 points to 2,143.57 on hopes for a positive outlook from Intel.

The S&P 500 index edged 1.04 points lower to 1,190.33.