On Thursday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that the number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits totaled 489,000 in July, up 2.2%, or 11,000, from a month earlier. This was the third consecutive monthly increase. Prior to these gains, the number of regular EI beneficiaries had held relatively steady since September 2023.

Year-over-year, the number of regular EI beneficiaries was up by 10.0%, or 44,000.

Data from the Labor Force Survey show that in the three months ending in July, the unemployment rate increased 0.3 percentage points to 6.4%, as more people searched for work, while overall employment was steady. Compared with July 2023, the unemployment rate was up 0.9 percentage points, and the number of unemployed people who had been laid off increased 12.2%, or 66,000, to a total of 604,000 (not seasonally adjusted).

StatsCan notes that variations in the number of EI beneficiaries can reflect changes in the circumstances of different groups, including those becoming beneficiaries, those going back to work, those exhausting their regular benefits, and those no longer receiving benefits for other reasons.

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