The Daily, Tuesday, October 26, 2004. Employment Insurance

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Employment Insurance

The estimated number of Canadians (adjusted for seasonality) receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits in August 2004 was 549,690, up 3.4% from July.

Most provinces and territories recorded increases, led by Manitoba (+10.7%), Prince Edward Island (+9.3%) and Quebec (+7.5%). The increase in British Columbia (+4.7%) was the first in just over a year. Compared with August of last year, the number of regular beneficiaries has fallen by 6.2% nationally.

Also on a seasonally adjusted basis, regular benefit payments in August totalled $801.6 million, while the number of people making initial and renewal claims was 249,180.

Employment Insurance statistics

August 2004

July 2004

August 2003

July to August 2004

August 2003 to August 2004

seasonally adjusted

% change

Regular beneficiaries

549,690^p

531,800^p

586,270

3.4

-6.2

Regular benefits paid ($ millions)

801.6^p

711.8^r

770.2

12.6

4.1

Initial and renewal claims received ('000)

249.2^p

240.0^r

244.1

3.8

2.1

unadjusted

All beneficiaries ('000) (see note to users)

786.0^p

750.7^p

816.3

Regular beneficiaries ('000)

519.7^p

489.5^p

551.8

Initial and renewal claims received ('000)

192.9

295.4

167.4

Payments ($ millions)

1,328.0

986.2

1,074.7

year-to-date (January to August)

2004

2003

2003 to 2004

% change

Claims received ('000)

1,794.9

1,878.8

-4.5

Payments ($ millions)

10,525.4

10,183.6

3.4

^r	Revised figures.
^p	Preliminary figures.
Note:	"All beneficiaries" includes all claimants receiving regular benefits (for example, as a result of layoff) or special benefits (for example, as a result of illness) and are representative of data for the Labour Force Survey reference week, which is usually the week containing the 15th day of the month.

Note: Employment Insurance Statistics Program data are produced from an administrative data source and may, from time-to-time, be affected by changes to the Employment Insurance Act or administrative procedures. The number of beneficiaries is a measure of all persons who received Employment Insurance benefits for the week containing the 15th day of the month. The regular benefit payments series measures the total of all monies received by individuals for the entire month.

Number of beneficiaries receiving regular benefits

August 2004^p

July to August 2004

August 2003 to August 2004

seasonally adjusted

% change

Canada

549,690

3.4

-6.2

Newfoundland and Labrador

37,600

3.7

9.2

Prince Edward Island

8,560

9.3

3.4

Nova Scotia

29.920

1.3

-1.7

New Brunswick

34.430

0.0

-1.3

Quebec

181,530

7.5

-4.1

Ontario

137,320

1.0

-8.8

Manitoba

14.090

10.7

-2.7

Saskatchewan

12,160

1.1

-4.9

Alberta

29,430

1.9

-16.1

British Columbia

58,960

4.7

-14.7

Yukon Territory

910

0.0

-11.7

Northwest Territories and Nunavut

1,200

3.4

4.3

unadjusted for seasonality

% change

Northwest Territories

690

-1.4

6.2

Nunavut

400

-4.8

0.0

^p	Preliminary figures.
Note:	The number of beneficiaries includes all claimants who received regular benefits for the Labour Force Survey reference week, which is the week usually containing the 15th day of the month.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2604.

Data on Employment Insurance for September will be released on November 30, 2004.

For general information or to order data, contact Client Services (613-951-4090; 1-866-873-8788; labour@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Gilles Groleau (613-951-4091), Labour Statistics Division.