TORONTO – The Canadian dollar was lower Friday as the greenback appreciated in the wake of data showing stronger than expected U.S. jobs data.

The loonie was down 0.3 of a cent to 90.93 cents US as the U.S. Labor Department reported that the economy cranked out 288,000 jobs during April.

Economists had expected growth of around 200,000. Also, the jobless rate fell from 6.7 per cent to 6.3 per cent, the lowest level since September 2008.

The news wasn’t all good: the labour force participation rate fell to just 62.8 per cent during April from 63.2 per cent.

Canadian jobs data for April will be released next Friday.

The U.S. jobs data was released in the wake of other recent economic reports that have pointed to faster economic growth after a dismal start to the year, slowed by a brutal winter.

Consumers are ramping up spending, businesses are ordering more goods and manufacturers are expanding. The strengthening numbers show that severe weather in January and February were largely to blame for the economy’s scant growth at the start of the year.

The economy barely expanded from January through March, eking out an annual growth rate of just 0.1 per cent, down from a 2.6 per cent rate in the final three months of 2013.

On the commodity markets, June crude in New York was up 52 cents to US$99.94 a barrel.

July copper was up a cent to US$3.03 a pound while June bullion faded $3 to US$1,280.40 an ounce.