Employers cut 92,000 jobs in February, the Labor Department reported on Friday, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent. The job losses cut across nearly all major sectors, including health care, which was weighed down by a nurses strike in California.
…
- Job concentration: Health care employment fell by 19,000 jobs in February, dragged down by a nurses strike in California that kept 31,000 people out of work. The health care industry has powered job growth, driven by the country’s aging population. But that dominance has raised concerns that the job market is more vulnerable than top-line numbers suggest.
- Wages solid: Wage growth remained healthy, at 3.8 percent over the year. Average hourly earnings have been slowing very gradually, but remain relatively steady, suggesting that hiring is not being constrained solely by the supply of available workers.
- Participation drops: The share of people in their prime years who were either working or looking for work fell slightly in February, to 83.9 percent.
- Low hire, low fire: Employers for months have been in something of a holding pattern. The number of job openings in December, the most recent month for which data is available, fell to its lowest level since September 2020. At the same time, initial claims for unemployment insurance have stayed low, indicating that employers overall are not laying off workers in large numbers despite some headline-grabbing jobs cuts at major companies.
- Labor supply: The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has contributed to slower growth in the supply of labor. That has made it difficult to determine if a slowdown in job growth is caused by decreasing demand for workers, fewer available job-seekers or a combination of both.
- Fed implications: The report is certain to stoke divisions at the Federal Reserve, which holds its next meeting on March 17-18. Some officials appear highly concerned about the health of the labor market and willing to cut rates to support it, while others seem more focused on the risk posed by inflation, especially given the conflict in the Middle East.
The BoC is touting success in issuing a blockchain bond:
The Bank of Canada (BoC), RBC Capital Markets, RBC Investor Services, TD Bank Group (TD), and Export Development Canada (EDC) successfully completed Project Samara, a collaborative initiative to evaluate how tokenization and distributed ledger technology (DLT) can improve bond issuance and settlement in a real-world setting.
As a key milestone in the experiment, EDC issued this week Canada’s first tokenized bond using DLT, with payments settled in wholesale central bank deposits. The bond was sold and traded and will be managed throughout its life cycle on the Samara Platform.
The Samara Platform was designed for the experiment to support end-to-end transactions throughout the bond’s life cycle—including cash and bond issuance, bidding, coupon payment, redemption and secondary trading—on DLT infrastructure. Built on Hyperledger Fabric, the platform integrates separate bond and cash ledgers and enables the transaction to be settled instantly, as well as secondary market trading and settlement of the tokenized bond, directly on-chain.
Building on earlier experimental work from the series of Jasper projects, Samara tested the real-world feasibility and implications of a DLT-based platform for capital markets, using a real bond funded and traded with central bank money. The project was structured as a limited experiment, involving the issuance of a single security—a $100 million Canadian dollar–denominated bond of less than 3 months—to a closed investor group.
The experiment revealed both the potential and the limitations of DLT in a real-world financial setting:
- Efficiency gains: across participants, both operational efficiency and data integrity were improved, and workflows were streamlined
- Operational and governance complexity: efficiency gains were partially offset by system complexity, liquidity costs, the need for new governance structures, and increased attention in coordination, reporting and oversight
- Risk management: counterparty and settlement risk were reduced, but new operational risks related to technology, auditability and fallback mechanisms were introduced
- Regulatory and legal considerations: some centralized roles (such as a marketplace operator, custodian and off-platform trade reporting) highlighted gaps between the current regulatory framework and DLT principles
- Adoption barriers: despite technical feasibility, broader adoption will likely be slow due to several factors, such as integration challenges and limited appetite for core infrastructure changes.
Overall, Project Samara generated valuable insights into the practical application of DLT in capital markets. These insights provide a foundation for future work, and, while impacts in the short term are uncertain, the technology appears well-positioned to deliver efficiency and resilience benefits over the long term. Comprehensive findings of the project can be found in the Project Samara Research Paper.
| HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices Values are provisional and are finalized monthly |
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| Index | Mean Current Yield (at bid) |
Median YTW |
Median Average Trading Value |
Median Mod Dur (YTW) |
Issues | Day’s Perf. | Index Value |
| Ratchet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1984 % | 2,481.9 |
| FixedFloater | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1984 % | 4,706.1 |
| Floater | 5.80 % | 6.11 % | 59,064 | 13.66 | 3 | -0.1984 % | 2,712.1 |
| OpRet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1025 % | 3,657.8 |
| SplitShare | 4.77 % | 4.27 % | 81,063 | 3.00 | 5 | -0.1025 % | 4,368.2 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1025 % | 3,408.2 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.70 % | 5.75 % | 87,863 | 14.10 | 7 | 0.2504 % | 3,071.2 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.61 % | 5.67 % | 47,485 | 14.33 | 28 | -0.1872 % | 3,372.8 |
| FixedReset Disc | 5.87 % | 5.76 % | 129,370 | 13.94 | 27 | 0.0354 % | 3,206.5 |
| Insurance Straight | 5.53 % | 5.62 % | 62,870 | 14.50 | 22 | -0.2493 % | 3,288.9 |
| FloatingReset | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0354 % | 3,814.5 |
| FixedReset Prem | 5.94 % | 4.53 % | 87,368 | 2.45 | 21 | 0.0601 % | 2,671.2 |
| FixedReset Bank Non | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0354 % | 3,277.7 |
| FixedReset Ins Non | 5.26 % | 5.23 % | 98,010 | 14.81 | 14 | 0.0551 % | 3,141.3 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| MFC.PR.J | FixedReset Ins Non | -3.05 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 23.51 Evaluated at bid price : 24.82 Bid-YTW : 5.48 % |
| BN.PR.R | FixedReset Disc | -2.61 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.30 Evaluated at bid price : 21.30 Bid-YTW : 6.01 % |
| GWO.PR.G | Insurance Straight | -2.17 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 22.71 Evaluated at bid price : 23.00 Bid-YTW : 5.65 % |
| POW.PR.G | Perpetual-Discount | -1.61 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 24.23 Evaluated at bid price : 24.52 Bid-YTW : 5.79 % |
| POW.PR.D | Perpetual-Discount | -1.43 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 22.44 Evaluated at bid price : 22.70 Bid-YTW : 5.58 % |
| GWO.PR.H | Insurance Straight | -1.24 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.28 Evaluated at bid price : 21.55 Bid-YTW : 5.62 % |
| BN.PR.N | Perpetual-Discount | -1.15 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 20.61 Evaluated at bid price : 20.61 Bid-YTW : 5.88 % |
| POW.PR.A | Perpetual-Discount | -1.12 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 24.31 Evaluated at bid price : 24.62 Bid-YTW : 5.77 % |
| GWO.PR.T | Insurance Straight | -1.04 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 22.60 Evaluated at bid price : 22.85 Bid-YTW : 5.63 % |
| CU.PR.F | Perpetual-Discount | 1.01 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 20.00 Evaluated at bid price : 20.00 Bid-YTW : 5.67 % |
| BIP.PR.E | FixedReset Prem | 1.03 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2028-03-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.56 Bid-YTW : 5.29 % |
| BN.PF.D | Perpetual-Discount | 1.57 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.34 Evaluated at bid price : 21.34 Bid-YTW : 5.86 % |
| PWF.PR.H | Perpetual-Premium | 1.91 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 24.80 Evaluated at bid price : 25.02 Bid-YTW : 5.81 % |
| IFC.PR.G | FixedReset Ins Non | 2.41 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 23.68 Evaluated at bid price : 25.50 Bid-YTW : 5.33 % |
| MFC.PR.F | FixedReset Ins Non | 2.67 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 19.25 Evaluated at bid price : 19.25 Bid-YTW : 5.42 % |
| GWO.PR.Y | Insurance Straight | 3.25 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 20.65 Evaluated at bid price : 20.65 Bid-YTW : 5.46 % |
| PWF.PR.S | Perpetual-Discount | 4.17 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.46 Evaluated at bid price : 21.72 Bid-YTW : 5.58 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| CIU.PR.A | Perpetual-Discount | 124,282 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 20.64 Evaluated at bid price : 20.64 Bid-YTW : 5.62 % |
| CU.PR.C | FixedReset Disc | 83,390 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 24.46 Evaluated at bid price : 24.80 Bid-YTW : 5.24 % |
| BN.PF.I | FixedReset Prem | 25,500 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2027-03-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.71 Bid-YTW : 3.62 % |
| IFC.PR.C | FixedReset Ins Non | 25,400 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 24.32 Evaluated at bid price : 24.85 Bid-YTW : 5.45 % |
| BN.PR.Z | FixedReset Prem | 23,500 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 23.78 Evaluated at bid price : 25.43 Bid-YTW : 5.72 % |
| SLF.PR.D | Insurance Straight | 21,800 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.22 Evaluated at bid price : 21.22 Bid-YTW : 5.25 % |
| There were 7 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| See TMX DataLinx: ‘Last’ != ‘Close’ and the posts linked therein for an idea of why these quotes are so horrible. | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| MFC.PR.F | FixedReset Ins Non | Quote: 19.25 – 23.80 Spot Rate : 4.5500 Average : 2.5499 YTW SCENARIO |
| CU.PR.C | FixedReset Disc | Quote: 24.80 – 25.80 Spot Rate : 1.0000 Average : 0.7474 YTW SCENARIO |
| BN.PR.R | FixedReset Disc | Quote: 21.30 – 22.60 Spot Rate : 1.3000 Average : 1.0577 YTW SCENARIO |
| BIP.PR.F | FixedReset Prem | Quote: 25.75 – 26.40 Spot Rate : 0.6500 Average : 0.4198 YTW SCENARIO |
| BN.PR.Z | FixedReset Prem | Quote: 25.43 – 26.04 Spot Rate : 0.6100 Average : 0.3854 YTW SCENARIO |
| ENB.PF.E | FixedReset Disc | Quote: 22.79 – 23.21 Spot Rate : 0.4200 Average : 0.2605 YTW SCENARIO |