The number of people receiving Employment Insurance cheques in British Columbia dropped by 0.5 percent in July from a month earlier, according to figures Statistics Canada released today.
The 92,550 people receiving EI benefits in B.C. in July were twice as many as in July, 2008 and Vancouver, Victoria and Abbotsford-Mission were among the seven metropolitan areas to see the largest increases in the country.
Those gains in EI beneficiaries were connected to job losses, StatsCan's newsletter said. “The largest employment losses for the province over this period occurred in manufacturing, construction, as well as transportation and warehousing.”
Countrywide there was a 3.8 percent decrease from June to July in the number of people receiving regular benefits, with the largest declines in Ontario (5.9 percent), Quebec (5.3 percent) and Alberta (4.4 percent). It was the first decrease in 11 months.
In Newfoundland and Labrador the number of people receiving EI rose 6.5 percent, making it the only province with a notable increase.
The downturn has affected more men than women, the newsletter said, and more youth than older workers.
Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.
9
Login or register to post comments
mbrad
2 years ago
EI numbers drop
Of course they are dropping, benefits are expiring and then what.
Welfare (if you can get it in BC) or the street.
The number is a flase representation of what is happening out there. This may well be a jobless recovery.
Frank
2 years ago
Employment
If the employment numbers didn't increase then its obviously because of expiring benefits.
realisticman
2 years ago
Frank
Couldn't possibly be more jobs.
Frank
2 years ago
realisticman
I was asking a question...
If there were more jobs then the employment numbers would have increased. Did they?
realisticman
2 years ago
Frank
Sorry Frank, perhaps you forgot the question mark.
As you may know the numbers are released at different times, so the latest numbers for employment are from August:
"September 4, 2009
August 2009
Employment increased by 27,000 in August, led by part-time work and among private sector employees. ..."
Frank
2 years ago
realisticman
Employment in BC increased by 27,000 people in one month?
Frank
2 years ago
Found my answer
According to StatsCan the number of employed people in BC increased by 8,600.
The population increased by 5,400.
The number of people looking for work increased by 11,000 therefore the official unemployment rate didn't go down.
realisticman
2 years ago
Where'd you get that?
I see that there were 2,000 more participants in the work force and StasCan says that the unemployment rate was steady at 7.8%. The labour force also grew by 11,000 and all these were in the full-time category that increased by 24,800.
In BC the official unemployment rate didn't go down and neither did it go up. Factoring in the increased population and one sees that 5,600 more people are working in full-time jobs in BC in one month.
Frank
2 years ago
Where'd you get that?
Here
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/subjects-sujets/labour-travail/lfs-epa/t090904a4-eng.htm
We still have 78,000 less full-time jobs than last August. Hopefully August is part of a trend and not a blip.