The number of those Canadians drawing regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits held pretty much firm in August.
Figures released Thursday by Statistics Canada revealed 453,200 people drew EI benefits, the month before last virtually unchanged from July's reading. There were increases in Quebec, of 2.8% and in Prince Edward Island of 1.6%, while Ontario showedca decrease in Ontario of 1.4%.
The nation's number crunchers went on to say that, from August 2018 to August 2019, the number of regular EI beneficiaries in Canada decreased by 10,300, or 2.2%. Over the same period, the Labour Force Survey reported that employment increased 2.5%, while the unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percentage points to 5.7%.
Between Augusts, the number of beneficiaries declined in seven provinces, as Newfoundland and Labrador's numbers tailed off 4.6% as did Quebec's, by 4.6%. This decrease was partially offset by 4% increases in New Brunswick, and a 1.5% hike in British Columbia's numbers.
