By Chris Fournier Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s dollar touched the weakest level in three days as crude oil fell before a U.S. government report expected to show employers cut jobs for a 21st month. “The main focus for the day ahead is the U.S. September employment release,” Adam Cole, London-based global head of currency strategy at RBC Capital Markets Inc., a unit of Canada’s biggest bank, wrote in a note to clients. A decline in U.S. stocks yesterday and stock futures overnight “has resulted in a fairly routine risk-off day in foreign exchange,” with the Canadian dollar among the biggest losers, Cole wrote. The Canadian currency depreciated 0.5 percent to C$1.0888 per U.S. dollar at 8:02 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.0839 yesterday. It touched C$1.0923, the weakest level since Sept. 29. One Canadian dollar buys 91.84 U.S. cents. America’s jobless rate probably rose last month to 9.8 percent, a 26-year high, and payrolls likely fell by 175,000 workers compared with a drop of 216,000 in August, according to the median forecasts of economists in Bloomberg News surveys. The Labor Department is due to release the report at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. The U.S. is Canada’s biggest trading partner. Crude oil for November delivery fell 1.7 percent to $69.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude is Canada’s biggest export. Canada’s currency, nicknamed the loonie, rose 1.4 percent in the past month for the fourth-worst performance among the U.S. dollar’s 16 most-traded counterparts tracked by Bloomberg. The Canadian dollar is headed for a 0.2 percent gain this week.

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