Canadian Unemployment Increases in April

On Thursday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that the number of Canadians receiving regular employment insurance (EI) benefits increased by 3.4% (17,000) to 520,000 in April. This follows an increase of 3.1% in February and little change in March. Year-over-year, the number of regular EI beneficiaries was up 12.7% (58,000).

Labor Force Survey data indicate that the unemployment rate was up 0.7 percentage points year-over-year to 6.9% in April.

Year-over-year, the number of regular EI recipients was up across all major occupational groups in April. Increases were most pronounced for beneficiaries who were last employed in trades, transport, and equipment operators and related occupations (up 12.7%, or 20,000) and business, finance, and administration (up 18.7%, or 10,600).

StatCan notes that 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 those no longer receiving benefits for other reasons.