The Canadian dollar touched a three-year low on speculation thatslowing growth and risks of cooling inflation outweigh animprovement in the labor market.

The currency headed for a third weekly loss against its U.S.peer, the longest slump since August, after official data showedemployment in Canada rose by 21,600 last month and the jobless rateremained 6.9 percent, the lowest since 2008. The Canadian dollarweakened beyond C$1.07 for the first time in three years Dec. 4after the central bank kept interest rates at 1 percent and warnedthe risks of inflation remaining below its target band hadincreased.

“The BOC's focus now is really on inflation and exports—thisjobs report is less important,” Camilla Sutton, head of currencystrategy at Bank of Nova Scotia, said by phone from Toronto. “Thejobs report highlights things in Canada are better than otherpeople thought.”