The number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits rose by 7,400 (+1.5%) in August, the third increase in four months. Prior to these increases, the number of regular EI beneficiaries had held relatively steady from September 2023 to April 2024.
On a year-over-year basis, the number of regular EI beneficiaries was up by 26,000 (+5.6%) in August.
Data from the Labour Force Survey show that in the four months to August, the unemployment rate increased 0.5 percentage points to 6.6%, as more people searched for work, while overall employment was little changed. Compared with August 2023, the unemployment rate was up 1.1 percentage points and the number of unemployed people who had been laid off increased to 728,000 (+14.8%; +94,000) (not seasonally adjusted).
In general, variations in the number of EI beneficiaries can reflect changes in the circumstances of different groups, including those becoming beneficiaries, those going back to work, those exhausting their regular benefits, and those no longer receiving benefits for other reasons.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).