More Canadians are collecting jobless benefits than a year ago – the first year-over-year increase in five years.
The number of people getting employment insurance benefits rose 1.1% in March from a month earlier and is 2,600 higher than a year earlier, according to figures released Thursday by Statistics Canada. Alberta saw an 8.9% monthly jump, leading growth for the third month in a row, while Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland also recorded increases.
The uptick in energy-related provinces was expected, given the impact lower oil prices are having on companies’ investment and employment plans. Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said this week that we probably “still haven’t seen the full impact of the oil price shock reflected in the employment data.”
More than half a million people are receiving EI. But the picture varies among provinces. British Columbia and Prince Edward Island saw small monthly increases. Quebec saw a drop in beneficiaries while there was little change in New Brunswick and Ontario.
In Alberta, the number of people receiving benefits rose to 38,800 in March, the fifth straight monthly increase and the second-largest for the province since June 2009, according to the nation's number crunchers.
Among occupations, gains came among people who had worked in manufacturing, natural sciences and primary industry, which includes mining, oil and gas.
Among cities, the number of beneficiaries rose for a fifth month in Calgary and Edmonton.
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