British Columbia had Canada's biggest decline in the number of employment insurance (EI) recipients in September – both compared with August and year-over-year – according to Statistics Canada data released November 21.
The province saw a 16.9% plunge in recipients to 48,050 in September compared with September 2012. Nationally, recipients dropped by 8.8% to 503,800 over the same period.
Compared with one month prior, B.C. had a drop of 8.5% in September, with Vancouver's EI recipients falling 12.9%. Victoria's recipients fell 8.3%. The country as a whole saw a dip of 1.4%.
B.C. saw the country's smallest change in the number of new claims, which dipped 0.7% from August to 25,370. Nationwide, the number of new claims increased 0.2% to 225,280.
After B.C., the biggest year-over-year drops in the number of EI recipients were found in:
- Prince Edward Island – down 15.1%;
- Saskatchewan – down 12.0%; and
- Nova Scotia – down 11.1%.
