EI claims drop in July

The decline offsets spring increases and brings the number of beneficiaries back to the level recorded in March.

Nine provinces saw the number of EI beneficiaries drop, with the most significant declines in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick.

There was a small increase in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Since the number of EI recipients peaked in June 2009, the number of regular EI beneficiaries has fallen by 157,100, StatsCan said.

But the recession that began in 2008 saw EI rolls jump by 329,000, meaning that the jobs recovery still has some distance to go to return to pre-recession levels.

In July, 247,900 initial and renewal claims were received, up 6,200 from June.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is set to raise EI premiums in 2011, following a two-year freeze. Ottawa has yet to announce how high the increase will be.

Currently, EI premiums for employees are $1.73 per $100 of insurable earnings, to a maximum of $747 a year. The maximum EI benefit is currently $457 a week.

Earlier this month, Ottawa ended a program that granted an additional five weeks of benefits to all workers and up to 20 additional weeks for long-tenured workers.

Rising unemployment levels forced the government’s hand on the issue in 2009, when unemployment levels were rising rapidly. But now that the EI system is starting to recover, the government said it could cancel the extra measures.

StatsCan points out that July’s drop in claims can be due to a number of factors besides people heading back to work. They may not be actively on the job hunt, or they may have exhausted their benefits.