Things continue to look up for the Canadian economy, as it added 21,800 jobs in February, recording an increase in the private sector.
Even though the February job gain was lower than the 150,000 job gains in January, it still showed that the economy is doing well, as analysts said that the job gain rate was too high, twice more than projected.
The report from Statistics Canada this Friday noted that the bulk of the job gains occurred in health care and social assistance, public administration and utilities, while business, building and other support services experienced job losses.
However, the downside of the positive news from the labour market is that it may spur the Bank of Canada to lift its suspension on interest rate hikes. The central bank on Wednesday announced that it was not raising the interest rate from its current 4.5 per cent.
That was the first time in one year that it had left the interest rate unchanged within a month since it began its policy of taming inflation following last year’s invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Inflation, which had risen to 8.1 per cent in June 2022, began to drop gradually until its current January level of 5.9 per cent.
The fear that a bustling labour market may make the Bank of Canada reconsider its stance on interest seemed to have affected the stock market, as the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was heading for its worst week in five months. On Friday, the index, which fell by over 100 points in early-morning trading, had dropped further to over 300 points by 2 p.m. EST.
On the home front, our readers showed more interest in technology. The tech sector is a dynamic and ever-current one where things happen at a fast pace, keeping the customers always busy. Below are the three stories that attracted our readers the most this week.
Nextech3D.ai (CSE:NTAR) (OTCQX:NEXCF) files patent for generative AI
Nextech3D.ai (NTAR) filed a patent titled: “Generative AI for 3D Model Creation from 2D Photos using Stable Diffusion with Deformable Template Conditioning.”
The patent builds on the company’s previous patent for creating complex 3D models by parts, placing it in a leadership position in the 3D modelling for e-commerce space.
Chief Technology Officer Nima Sarshar sat down with Sabrina Phillips to discuss the potential of the breakthrough technology.
Nextech AR Solutions Corp. (NTAR) was up 2.94 per cent in the past five days, trading at $0.70 at 2:02 p.m. EST.
ARway Corp (CSE:ARWY) (OTCPK:ARWYF) files first in a series of patents around its technology
ARway (ARWY) filed the first in a series of patents around its technology with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
The provisional utility patent titled “System & method for generating 3D digital twins from property floorplan images for Augmented Reality systems” is a crucial step in advancing ARway’s digital twin technology.
ARway CEO Evan Gappelberg met with Sabrina Phillips to discuss the news.
Arway Corp. (ARWY) was down 10.83 per cent in the past five days, trading at $1.07 at 1:53 p.m. EST.
Mullen Group (TSX:MTL) renews NCIB
Mullen Group (MTL) received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange to renew its normal course issuer bid (NCIB).
Under the current bid expiring on March 9, 2023, Mullen Group was approved to repurchase up to 8,828,623 of its common shares for cancellation.
The corporation has already repurchased 2,011,595 shares for approximately $26.8 million at a volume-weighted average price of $13.33 per share.
Under the renewed bid, Mullen Group may repurchase up to 8,644,508 shares between March 10, 2023, and March 9, 2024. All purchased shares will be cancelled.
Joanna Scott, Senior Corporate Officer, sat down with Sabrina Phillips to discuss the bid.
Mullen Group Ltd. (MTL) was up 4.47 per cent in the past five days, trading at $15.42 at 2:11 p.m. EST.