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An estimated 485,340 Canadians (seasonally adjusted) received regular Employment Insurance benefits in December, up 0.2% from November but down 1.6% from the same period of 2005.
There were increases in British Columbia (+5.1%), Manitoba (+2.1%), Alberta (+2.1%) and Quebec (+0.6%) in December while all other provinces showed declines.
Regular benefit payments in December totalled $701.1 million, while 208,780 people made initial and renewal claims.
Note: Employment Insurance Statistics Program data are produced from an administrative data source and may, from time to time, be affected by changes to the Employment Insurance Act or administrative procedures. The number of beneficiaries for this month is a measure of all persons who received Employment Insurance benefits from the 3rd to the 9th of the month. This coincides with the reference week of the Labour Force Survey. The regular benefit payments figure measures the total of all monies paid to individuals from the 1st to the end of the month.
Available on CANSIM: tables 276-0001 to 276-0006, 276-0009, 276-0011, 276-0015 and 276-0016.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2604.
Data on Employment Insurance for January will be released on March 27.
For general information or to order data, contact Client Services (613-951-4090 or toll-free 1-866-873-8788; labour@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Gilles Groleau (613-951-4091), Labour Statistics Division.