Province’s EI rollcall soars 41% in past year
January jobless up 56% in Saskatoon over 2015, Regina numbers up 37%
The number of people in Saskatchewan receiving Employment Insurance benefits shot up by 41 per cent to 15,590 in January from 11,320 in January 2015 (seasonally adjusted), according to Statistics Canada.
“In January, 16,000 people received regular benefits in Saskatchewan, up 2.4 per cent from December,” the federal agency said Thursday. “Saskatoon (2.6 per cent) and Regina (one per cent) both recorded increases. On a year-over-year basis, the number of people receiving EI benefits in the province was up by 40.9 per cent.”
On a year-over-year basis, Regina saw a 37 per cent increase in EI recipients, with 1,960 receiving benefits in January, compared with 1,430 in January last year. Saskatoon saw an even larger increase in EI recipients, at 56 per cent to 3,600 in January from 2,310 in January 2015.
The number of people in the province making initial or renewal claims for EI also increased by double digits in January. On a yearover-year basis, the number of EI claims increased 22.4 per cent to 7,860 in January, compared with 6,420 in January 2015. However, the number of EI claims in January was actually down one per cent from 7,940 in December.
Doug Elliott of Sask Trends Monitor said the number of EI beneficiaries with no additional income has risen 35 per cent yearover-year to 17,460 (unadjusted) compared with 12,930 a year ago. “This is not quite an all-time high but it is the largest number since the late 1990s,” Elliott said.
“Judging from the LFS (labour force survey) numbers for February, it will probably continue to increase for at least the next few months, so we haven’t peaked yet,” Elliott added.
Regina NDP MP Erin Weir said the 37 per cent increase in the number of Reginans on EI over the past year indicates a much bigger unemployment problem than either the federal or provincial governments are letting on.
“These figures cast doubt on the federal government’s decision to exclude Regina and southern Saskatchewan from the budget’s extension of EI benefits for regions hit by the collapse of oil and gas,” said the Regina-Lewvan MP.
Wednesday’s federal budget extended EI benefits in Saskatoon, Lloydminster and northern Saskatchewan, but not in Regina or southern Saskatchewan, where oil and gas workers are being laid off by the thousands.
“Regina is near the epicentre of the downturn in the oil and gas sector,” Weir added.
Across Canada, the number of Canadians receiving regular EI benefits totalled 543,100 in January, virtually unchanged from the previous month. Seven provinces, however, saw an increase in the number of EI beneficiaries.
The largest increases were recorded in New Brunswick (4.2 per cent), Newfoundland and Labrador (3.2 per cent), Saskatchewan and Alberta (two per cent). On the other hand, there were fewer people receiving EI benefits in Quebec (down two per cent) and British Columbia (down 1.2 per cent).
Year over year, the total number of EI beneficiaries increased by 35,900 or 7.1 per cent, largely as a result of increases in Alberta. Despite the year-over-year increase, the number of beneficiaries in Canada has levelled out since the summer of 2015.
Employment insurance claims totalled 250,000 in January, virtually unchanged from the previous month, but year-over-year employment insurance claims were up 6.1 per cent.
...It will probably continue to increase for at least the next few months...