Canadian Unemployment Inches Higher in October

Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported on Wednesday (12-20-23) that the number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in October changed little, increasing by 0.7%, or 2,900 persons, to 443,000.

StatCan notes that considering the small variation in October, little change has been observed over the last three months. (This follows three consecutive monthly increases that ended in July.) Year-over-year, the number of regular EI beneficiaries increased by 6,500, or 1.5%, in October.

Data from the Labor Force Survey (LFS) indicates the Canadian unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 5.7% in October. The October increase marks the fourth monthly increase in the past six months.

StatCan reminds readers that in general, variations in the number of 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.