Employment Insurance, July 2012

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A total of 508,000 people received regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in July, virtually unchanged from the previous month. Compared with July 2011, the number of beneficiaries fell by 34,900 or 6.4%.

The number of beneficiaries increased in Alberta and Ontario, while it fell in Prince Edward Island and Quebec. There were no notable changes in the other provinces.

Chart 1 
Employment Insurance beneficiaries little changed in July
Chart 1: Employment Insurance beneficiaries little changed in July

Chart description: Employment Insurance beneficiaries little changed in July

CSV version of the chart

Claims virtually unchanged in July

To receive EI benefits, individuals must first submit a claim. The number of claims provides an indication of the number of people who could become beneficiaries.

Nationally, the number of initial and renewal claims was little changed at 232,400 in July, following an increase in June.

Provincially, claims rose by 8.9% in Saskatchewan, 8.3% in Ontario and 3.1% in Alberta, while they fell by 6.6% in New Brunswick, 4.4% in Quebec and 3.0% in Newfoundland and Labrador. There was little change in the other provinces.

Chart 2 
Number of claims virtually unchanged in July
Chart 2: Number of claims virtually unchanged in July

Chart description: Number of claims virtually unchanged in July

CSV version of the chart

The provinces: Number of beneficiaries

After a long-term downward trend, the number of people receiving regular EI benefits in Alberta increased to 25,600 in July, up 2,100 or 8.7% from the previous month.

In Ontario, the number of beneficiaries rose 3.4% to 154,300, more than offsetting a decline in the previous month.

At the same time, the number of people receiving benefits in Prince Edward Island declined 5.0% to 8,100. In Quebec, the number of beneficiaries fell 2.8% to 146,300, the second consecutive decline in the province. There were no notable changes in the other provinces.

Note to readers

The change in the number of regular Employment Insurance (EI) beneficiaries reflects various situations, including people becoming beneficiaries, people going back to work, and people exhausting their regular benefits.

All data in this release are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise specified. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonal adjustment and identifying economic trends.

EI statistics are produced from administrative data sources provided by Service Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. These statistics may, from time to time, be affected by changes to the Employment Insurance Act or administrative procedures. The number of regular beneficiaries and the number of claims received for June and July are preliminary.

The number of beneficiaries is a measure of all people who received EI benefits from July 15 to 21. This period coincides with the reference week of the Labour Force Survey (LFS).

EI statistics indicate the number of people who received EI benefits, and should not be confused with data coming from the LFS, which provides information on the total number of unemployed people.

There is always a certain proportion of unemployed people who do not qualify for benefits. Some unemployed people have not contributed to the program because they have not worked in the past 12 months or their employment is not insured. Other unemployed people have contributed to the program but do not meet the eligibility criteria, such as workers who left their job voluntarily or those who did not accumulate enough hours of work to receive benefits.

Available without charge in CANSIM: tables CANSIM table276-0001 to 276-0004, CANSIM table276-0006, CANSIM table276-0009 and CANSIM table276-0011.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number survey number2604.

Data tables are also now available online. From the Key resource module of our website under Summary tables, choose Subject, then Labour.

Data on Employment Insurance for August will be released on October 18.

For more information, contact Statistics Canada's National Contact Centre (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 613-951-8116; infostats@statcan.gc.ca).

To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Lahouaria Yssaad (613-951-0627; lahouaria.yssaad@statcan.gc.ca), Labour Statistics Division.