The number of employment insurance (EI) recipients in B.C. dropped for the third consecutive month in August, according to Statistics Canada data released October 20.
A decrease of 2,200 in August (compared with July) was the largest of the three consecutive declines. Since the June 2009 peak, the number of EI beneficiaries in the province has fallen by 15,400 (-16.4%) to 78,800.
Canadawide, 671,200 people received regular EI benefits in August, virtually unchanged from July.
Since peaking in June 2009, the number of EI recipients has fallen by 158,100. This decline has offset almost half of the increase of 329,000 EI recipients that Statistics Canada recorded during the 2008/2009 labour market downturn.
Most of B.C.’s large centres had fewer EI beneficiaries in August compared with the same month in 2009. The rate of decline was most pronounced in Williams Lake, Fort St. John, Port Alberni and Penticton.
In Vancouver, 36,000 people received regular benefits in August, down 2,800 from the same month in 2009. The number of beneficiaries also fell by 710 to 2,500 in Prince George and by 510 to 4,000 in Victoria in August compared with the same month in 2009.