Number of Albertans receiving EI benefits increase 4.7% in September, 2010

Nov. 17, 2010 - PRLog -- Lethbridge-Alberta | November 17,2010 | www.WorldWealthBuilders.com |

In Alberta, the number of beneficiaries rose by 2,200 to 48,500 in September, halting 10 consecutive monthly declines. The number of regular beneficiaries was 14,300 (-22.8%) lower than the peak in June 2009.


All of Alberta's 12 large centres had fewer beneficiaries compared with September 2009. The fastest pace of decline occurred in Red Deer, Grande Prairie and Medicine Hat. There were fewer beneficiaries in Calgary and Edmonton for the sixth consecutive month. In Calgary, the number of beneficiaries fell by 6,700 to 12,300, while in Edmonton, it decreased by 3,400 to 11,600.

The number of Albertans receiving employment insurance benefits jumped 4.7 per cent in September, after falling over the previous 10 months.

While Alberta say the largest increase in EI claims of any province during the recession, tripling between October 2008 and October 2009 on the downside of the boom, Sumner said those claims are now falling at one of the fastest rates, down 32 per cent from September 2009.

During the previous post-boom in the 1980s, according to ATB, 90,000 Albertans were receiving benefits, even though the province's population was smaller than it is now.

According to Statistics Canada data released Wednesday, those receiving EI across Canada increased by 2.2 per cent, still 16.5 per cent below the peak of June 2009. In Alberta, 48,530 people were receiving the benefit, the first increase since October 2009 when the province's EI numbers hit their recessionary peak of 73,120, ATB Financial said in its daily economic comment. That number is seasonally adjusted.


Across Canada those decreased by 2.8 per cent, the first decline since March.

Canada-wide, 14,600 more people were receiving benefits during September, pushing the total to 692,700. The number of recipients increased in every province, StatsCan said.

The biggest gains were in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec and Alberta.

In September, 692,700 people received regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, an increase of 14,600 or 2.2% from August.

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