Number of Sask. EI recipients up 30% in September

The number of Employment Insurance (EI) recipients in Saskatchewan increased by nearly one-third in September, compared with the same period last year, reflecting the impact of falling oil prices and the slowdown in the oilpatch, according to Statistics Canada data released Thursday.

There were 14,170 people receiving EI benefits in September, a seasonally adjusted increase of 3,280 or 30.1 per cent from 10,890 in September 2014, the federal agency said. “In Saskatchewan, the number of people receiving EI benefits increased in Regina (by 4.7 per cent), while it declined in Saskatoon (by 2.0 per cent), the report said.

Only Alberta, which saw the number of EI recipients virtually double on a yearover-year basis in September, saw a larger percentage increase in the number of EI recipients than Saskatchewan. Alberta had 57,980 EI recipients in September, up 99 per cent from 29,150 in September 2014.

Doug Elliott, publisher of Sask Trends Monitor, a monthly statistical newsletter, said the number of EI recipients in the province has been rising for several months, suggesting that other sectors of the economy are not performing well, besides the oil and gas industry. “It’s got to be more than that. It’s the downturn in the oilpatch and the slowdown in the rest of the economy. There’s probably some construction workers and manufacturing works in there.’’

Elliott noted that EI numbers have been rising since the summer. “There were 14,000 (EI recipients) in July and August,’’ he said. “For the year-to-date, the number of EI recipients is up 22 per cent.’’

Elliott added that the number of EI recipients without any employment income in September was 9,850, up 41 per cent from September 2014. He noted that there were 26,400 unemployed people in the province in September, using data from the Statistics Canada labour force survey. “(The number of unemployed) went up in October, so this is going to get worse.’’

Erin Weir, NDP MP for Regina-Lewvan, added that the number of Saskatchewan workers filing EI claims also jumped by 13.9 per cent in September over the past year, the second-largest increase among provinces and more than three times the national average increase of 3.9 per cent.

“EI claims abated somewhat between August and September, but Saskatchewan’s decrease of two per cent lagged behind the nationwide decrease of three per cent. Our elevated level of EI claims reflects a weaker provincial job market,’’ Weir said in a commentary.

“The new Liberal government has promised to make EI benefits more accessible to unemployed Canadians. These figures underscore the importance to Saskatchewan workers of ensuring that the federal government follows through on this commitment,” Weir said.