Number of Albertans receiving EI climbs

CALGARY • April was the fourth-consecutive month in which Alberta had Canada’s highest growth in the number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits, Statistics Canada said Thursday. It was the sixth-straight month the number of EI beneficiaries has risen in the province.

The federal agency reported beneficiaries were up 10.7 per cent, or 4,240 people, from the previous month — to 43,930.

“Since October 2014, the number of beneficiaries has increased by 14,600 (+49.6 per cent),” Statistics Canada said.

The largest month-over-month increase was in the processing, manufacturing and utilities sector (23.6 per cent). The natural and applied sciences sector also saw an above-average increase, at 15.1 per cent.

On a year-over-year basis, EI beneficiaries in the province have risen by 42.4 per cent, or 13,070 people. In the Calgary area, the number of beneficiaries rose to 13,530 — a 9.3-per-cent month-over-month hike (1,150 people) and a jump of 31.5 per cent yearover-year (3,240 people).

Across Canada, there were 521,340 people receiving regular EI benefits in April. That marked an increase of 0.5 per cent, or 2,800 people, from the previous month. But the number was down by 0.4 per cent, or 2,130 people, year-overyear.

Recently, the federal agency reported that Alberta’s labour force lost thousands more jobs during what was a surprisingly positive month for employment in Calgary and across much of the country.

Statistics Canada said the province shed 6,400 jobs in

Since October 2014, the number of beneficiaries has increased

May — a decline of 0.3 per cent — as the unemployment rate rose 0.3 points to 5.8 per cent, its highest level since January 2011. More than half of the job losses — 3,800 positions — were in the natural resources sector, it said.

On an annual basis, employment grew by 1.7 per cent or 38,400 jobs, though StatsCan said there has been little employment growth in the province since the start of 2015.

The picture was less bleak in the Calgary region where 1,900 jobs were created, even though the unemployment rate grew to 5.5 per cent from 5.3 per cent in April as more people entered the local workforce. Year-over-year, employment was up 4.7 per cent, or 37,100 positions.

Nationally, the number of people on EI climbed 0.5 per cent in April to 521,300.

British Columbia and Saskatchewan also saw increases, while Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba and New Brunswick saw numbers drop. Statistics Canada said there was “little change” in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.