Statistics Canada says November saw lowest number of people on EI in 25 years

By The Canadian Press on January 20, 2023.

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says November saw the lowest number of employment insurance beneficiaries on record in 25 years.

The federal agency says November marked the lowest number of people receiving EI since comparable data became available in 1997, with the exception of the summer of 2020 when the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit was in place.

The unemployment rate in November was 5.1 per cent.

Statistics Canada says the number of people receiving regular EI benefits that month fell in eight provinces.

The agency says fewer men and women in all age groups collected regular EI benefits in November.

The agency’s Labour Force Survey found the number of core-aged people who left a job involuntarily in the past 12 months was down 3.2 per cent in November compared with a year before, and down 18.6 per cent compared with November 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This decline in the number of people leaving a job involuntarily could have contributed to the historic lows in the number of people receiving regular EI benefits in November 2022,” Statistics Canada said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2023.

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