TORONTO, Aug. 7 -- Canada's dollar is heading into Friday's jobs release holding most of its August gains, with TD Securities arguing Thursday that a persistently resilient labour market has done more to support the loonie than traders betting against it had anticipated.

USD/CAD closed Wednesday at 1.4018, equivalent to 71.3 US cents for the Canadian dollar, after briefly weakening to 1.4068 Monday on risk-off flows tied to Middle East tension. The currency has since recovered as oil prices stabilised and forecasters began pricing in the possibility of a stronger-than-expected Statistics Canada employment print due Friday morning.

The TD Securities note, published Thursday, drew a direct line between Canada's employment trajectory and t...