The Daily, Tuesday, June 28, 2005. Employment Insurance

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Employment Insurance

After four consecutive months of small increases, the estimated number of Canadians (adjusted for seasonality) receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits edged down 0.8% in April from March. Compared to the same time last year, the number of regular beneficiaries fell 4.5% nationally.

The decline in April was due to decreases in Alberta (-4.9%), Saskatchewan (-2.7%), Quebec (-1.0%) and Ontario (-0.8%). Provinces showing monthly increases included Prince Edward Island (+3.4%) and Manitoba (+1.1%).

The number of regular beneficiaries in Alberta has now dropped for eight consecutive months, continuing a pronounced downward trend that began in the middle of 2003. Since July of that year, the number of regular beneficiaries in Alberta has fallen by 34.9%. Other provinces have also shown declines since July 2003, notably British Columbia (-25.8%), Saskatchewan (-14.1%), Quebec (-12.2%) and Ontario (-9.5%).

Also on a seasonally adjusted basis, regular benefit payments in April totalled $688.9 million, while the number of people making initial and renewal claims was 234,550.

Employment Insurance statistics

April 2005

March 2005

April 2004

March to April 2005

April 2004 to April 2005

seasonally adjusted

% change

Regular beneficiaries

525,030^p

529,490^r

549,910

-0.8

-4.5

Regular benefits paid ($ millions)

688.9^p

725.8^r

723.9

-5.1

-4.8

Initial and renewal claims received ('000)

234.6^p

255.7^r

234.2

-8.3

0.1

unadjusted

All beneficiaries ('000)¹

882.2^p

966.3^p

911.3

Regular beneficiaries ('000)

588.8^p

665.4^p

617.6

Initial and renewal claims received ('000)

181.9

219.1

179.6

Payments ($ millions)

1,397.7

1,334.2

1,332.4

year-to-date (January to April)

2005

2004

2004 to 2005

% change

Claims received ('000)

926.9

921.5

0.6

Payments ($ millions)

5,773.9

5,836.1

-1.1

^r	Revised figures.
^p	Preliminary figures.
1.	"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.

Number of beneficiaries receiving regular benefits

April 2005^p

March to April 2005

April 2004 to April 2005

seasonally adjusted

% change

Canada

525,030

-0.8

-4.5

Newfoundland and Labrador

37,870

0.4

1.7

Prince Edward Island

8,400

3.4

5.7

Nova Scotia

30,240

0.0

-1.7

New Brunswick

34,820

-0.2

0.7

Quebec

177,760

-1.0

-3.5

Ontario

133,730

-0.8

-3.5

Manitoba

13,000

1.1

-5.8

Saskatchewan

11,250

-2.7

-12.2

Alberta

23,070

-4.9

-22.0

British Columbia

52,360

0.2

-12.4

Yukon Territory

900

2.3

-7.2

Northwest Territories

710

0.0

-15.5

Nunavut

400

0.0

^p	Preliminary figures.
Note:	The number of beneficiaries includes all claimants who received regular benefits for the Labour Force Survey reference week, usually 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 fifteenth day of the month. The regular benefit payments series measures the total of all monies received by individuals for the entire month.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2604.

Data on Employment Insurance for May will be released on July 26.

For general information or to order data, contact Client Services at 613-951-4090 or, call toll free 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.