The number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits edged up (+1.1%; +6,200) to 553,000 in October. The number of beneficiaries has changed little since July, following an upward trend from January to June (+59,000; +12.0%).
Data from the Labour Force Survey indicate that the unemployment rate was 6.9% in October, down from 7.1% in September, but up from 6.6% in January 2025.
In general, variations in the number of EI beneficiaries receiving regular benefits can reflect changes in the circumstances of different groups of people, including new beneficiaries, individuals going back to work, those exhausting their regular benefits, and others who no longer receive benefits for various reasons.
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