Employment insurance recipients decline in July

The number of Canadians receiving employment insurance benefits fell to 672,200 in July — a drop of 31,400 from June's level, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

That takes the number receiving regular benefits back to levels seen in March.

Since the number of EI recipients peaked in June 2009, the number of regular EI beneficiaries has fallen by 157,100, the agency said.

But the recession that began in 2008 saw EI rolls jump by 329,000, meaning that the jobs recovery still has some distance to go to return to pre-recession levels.

The biggest declines in the number of EI recipients occurred in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick. There were drops in every province except Newfoundland and Labrador, where there was an increase of less than 1,000.

While the declines suggest good news, Statistics Canada points out that a drop in claims can be due to a number of factors besides people heading back to work — including people exhausting their benefits.

Initial EI claims rising

The EI report also showed a rise in first-time and renewal claims for employment insurance. In July, 247,900 initial and renewal claims were received. That's up 6,200 from June's figure.

Statistics Canada said the number of such claims has been trending up since March — jumping by 17,700 in the March to July period.

The most recent labour force survey, which tracked the Canadian jobs picture in August, showed the unemployment rate rose slightly to 8.1 per cent last month, even though almost 36,000 more jobs were created. 

Economists said that report suggested slower economic growth ahead.

EI premiums are set to rise in the new year, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said two weeks ago, following a two-year freeze. Ottawa has yet to announce how high the increase will be.

Currently, EI premiums for employees are $1.73 per $100 of insurable earnings, to a maximum of $747 a year. The maximum EI benefit is currently $457 a week.

Earlier this month, Ottawa ended a program that granted an additional five weeks of benefits to all workers and up to 20 additional weeks for long-tenured workers.

Both measures were introduced last year in the face of surging unemployment levels, but the government said neither is needed now that the EI system is beginning to return to normalcy.