CANADA FX DEBT-Canadian dollar recoups most of weekly decline as jobless rate falls

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Canadian dollar gains 0.5% against the greenback

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For the week, the loonie is down 0.2%

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Economy sheds 24,800 jobs in January

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Bond yields edge higher across the curve

By Fergal Smith

TORONTO, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened against ?its U.S. counterpart on Friday as stock markets rebounded and investors weighed mixed domestic employment ?data.

The loonie was trading 0.5% higher at 1.3645 per ?U.S. dollar, or 73.29 U.S. cents, after touching a ?10-day low ?at 1.3724. For the week, the currency was down 0.2%. Canada unexpectedly lost 24,800 jobs ?in January, but the losses were ?all part-time, and the unemployment rate dipped to a 16-month low of 6.5% as fewer people looked ?for work.

An increase in full-time ?jobs was ?a positive sign for the economy, said Amo Sahota, director at Klarity FX in San Francisco, adding that the currency ?could also have benefited from a recovery in equities and the Bank of Canada's reluctance to cut interest rates further. On Thursday, BoC Governor Tiff Macklem pushed back against prospects of additional rate cuts, saying that a move to lower rates when the ?economy ?is weak could stoke inflation if the weakness was due to lower productive capacity rather than a cyclical downturn in ?demand.

Wall Street bounced back following a tech rout earlier in the week, while the U.S. dollar gave back some of its recent safe-haven gains. The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, was up 1.6% at $64.32 a barrel amid fears of another supply-disrupting Middle East conflict.

Canadian ?bond yields edged higher across the curve, tracking moves in U.S. Treasuries. The 10-year yield was up 1 basis point at 3.414%, trading around the middle of ?its range since early December. (Reporting by Fergal Smith Editing by Rod Nickel)