The number of British Columbians who received regular employment insurance (EI) fell 3.7% to 67,000 people in April compared with March, according to Statistics Canada.
That’s the seventh consecutive month that the number of EI recipients in B.C. fell.
Compared with the previous April, the number of British Columbians who received assistance fell in 24 out of 25 large B.C. centres.
The number of EI recipients in Vancouver fell 22.4% to 28,500 in April compared with the same month in 2010.
Canada-wide, 598,400 fewer people received regular EI benefits in April than in March. That’s down 1.1% or about 6,500 people. It was also the seventh consecutive month that the national number of EI recipients has fallen.
For the first time in four months, however, the number of initial and renewal EI claims rose. Those claims were up 2.8% to 234,000 in April.
Glen Korstrom
Twitter: GlenKorstrom