A growing number of men and women in Canada’s working-age population are getting unemployment benefits, recent data shows.
Statistics Canada reported on Thursday that the number of men aged 25 to 54 years old who received regular Employment Insurance benefits increased by almost 13 per cent in June compared to the same time last year.
On a monthly basis, the agency said EI beneficiaries among core-aged men have gone up for two successive months — in June and July.
StatCan data also showed a 10.5-per cent annual increase in the number of core-aged women (25 to 54 years) receiving regular EI benefits in June.
This comes as the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 6.4 per cent in June, with more people searching for work, while overall employment held steady, the agency noted, citing the labour force survey.
“In general, 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,” StatCan said.
Overall, a total of 474,000 Canadians got regular EI benefits in June, which was a 10.4-per cent jump compared with the same month in 2023.
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Among different provinces, the rise in regular EI beneficiaries was most notable in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.
People who last worked in natural and applied sciences and related occupations saw the biggest yearly increase for regular EI recipients, followed by workers in manufacturing and utilities, StatCan said.
Regular EI benefits in Canada are for those who lose their jobs through no fault of their own and are available for and able to work, but can’t find a job, according to the federal government.
Eligible recipients could get up to 55 per cent of their average insurable weekly earnings, up to a maximum amount. People in Canada can receive EI benefits from 14 weeks up to a maximum of 45 weeks.
Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.4 per cent in July after two consecutive monthly increases, according to StatCan’s latest jobs report.
Among the core-aged population, the unemployment rate dipped slightly in July — by 0.3 percentage points for men and 0.2 for women. This marked the first decline in unemployment rate for core-aged men since August 2023, StatCan reported.
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