Employment Insurance, August 2024
Released: 2024-10-24
The number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits rose by 7,400 (+1.5%) in August, the third increase in four months. Prior to these increases, the number of regular EI beneficiaries had held relatively steady from September 2023 to April 2024.
On a year-over-year basis, the number of regular EI beneficiaries was up by 26,000 (+5.6%) in August.
Data from the Labour Force Survey show that in the four months to August, the unemployment rate increased 0.5 percentage points to 6.6%, as more people searched for work, while overall employment was little changed. Compared with August 2023, the unemployment rate was up 1.1 percentage points and the number of unemployed people who had been laid off increased to 728,000 (+14.8%; +94,000) (not seasonally adjusted).
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.
Chart 1
Number of regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries trends up since April 2024
The number of regular Employment Insurance recipients increases in August among men in all age groups and declines among core-aged women
The number of regular EI beneficiaries increased for men in all age groups in August, led by those in the core-aged group (25 to 54 years) (+3.9%; +7,400). In comparison, the number of regular EI recipients was essentially unchanged among young women (15 to 24 years) and women aged 55 and older in August, while it fell among core-aged women (-1.0%; -1,300).
Compared to August 2023, the number of regular EI beneficiaries was up for all major demographic groups. The largest increases were recorded among men aged 55 and older (+7.5%; +5,800), core-aged men (+7.2%; +13,000) as well as young men aged 15 to 24 years (+4.0%; +1,300). Over the same period, proportionally smaller increases were recorded among core-aged women (+3.9%; +4,500), women aged 55 and older (+3.0%; +1,500) and young women (+1.3%; +200).
More regular Employment Insurance recipients in Quebec, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador, while Saskatchewan posts a decline
The number of regular EI beneficiaries rose in three provinces in August; Quebec posted the largest proportional increase (+5.4%; +6,000), while Alberta (+1.9%; +1,000) and Newfoundland and Labrador (+1.3%; +400) recorded smaller increases. The number of people receiving EI benefits edged down in Saskatchewan (-1.3%; -200). There was little change in the other provinces.
The increase in the number of EI recipients in Quebec in August accounted for most of the monthly increase at the national level. The increase in the province was among core-aged women (+16.3%; +3,300) and core-aged men (+3.9%; +1,800). Despite the monthly increase, the number of regular EI beneficiaries in Quebec was little changed compared to August 2023.
In Alberta, the increase in August 2024 was mainly among core-aged men (+5.5%; +1,200). On a year-over-year basis, the number of EI recipients in the province was up 8.1% (+4,100).
Chart 2
Quebec had the largest proportional increase in regular Employment Insurance recipients in August
The number of regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries up in most major occupational groups
On a year-over-year basis, the number of regular EI beneficiaries was up among those who last worked in most broad occupational categories in August, except for art, culture, recreation and sport (-23.9%; -3,900) and natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations (-8.2%; -2,700). There was little change in the number of regular EI beneficiaries who last worked in health occupations.
The largest proportional increase from August 2023 to August 2024 was among regular EI recipients who last worked in occupations in manufacturing and utilities (+21.7%; +7,400), particularly as machine operators, assemblers and inspectors in processing, manufacturing, and printing (+40.9%; +6,200), and mostly in Ontario. Over the same period, there was also a notable increase in the number of regular EI beneficiaries who last worked in natural and applied sciences and related occupations (+18.9%; +5,600).
Chart 3
Largest 12-month increase in regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries among those who last worked in manufacturing and utilities, followed by natural and applied sciences
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Sustainable Development Goals
On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—the United Nations' transformative plan of action that addresses urgent global challenges over the following 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific sustainable development goals.
Employment Insurance statistics are an example of how Statistics Canada supports reporting on global sustainable development goals. This release will be used to help measure the following goal:
Note to readers
Concepts and methodology
Employment Insurance (EI) statistics are produced from administrative data sources provided by Service Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada. These statistics may, from time to time, be affected by changes to the Employment Insurance Act or administrative procedures.
EI statistics indicate the number of people who received EI benefits and should not be confused with Labour Force Survey (LFS) data, which provide estimates of the total number of unemployed people. There is always a certain proportion of unemployed people who do not qualify for benefits. Some unemployed people have not contributed to the program because they have not worked in the past 12 months or their employment was not insured. Other unemployed people have contributed to the program, but do not meet the eligibility criteria, such as workers who left their jobs voluntarily or those who did not accumulate enough hours of work to receive benefits.
All data in this release are seasonally adjusted, unless otherwise specified. To model the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, values for all series from March 2020 to December 2022 have been treated with a combination of level shifts and outliers to determine a seasonal pattern for seasonal adjustment. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
The number of regular EI beneficiaries for the current month and the previous month is subject to revision.
The number of beneficiaries is all people who received regular EI benefits from August 11 to 17, 2024. This period coincides with the reference week of the LFS.
A census metropolitan area (CMA) and a census agglomeration (CA) are formed by one or more adjacent municipalities centred on a population centre. A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000. A CA must have a population of at least 10,000. See Standard Geographical Classification 2021 for more information.
Next release
Data on EI for September will be released on November 21.
Products
More information about the concepts and use of Employment Insurance statistics is available in the Guide to Employment Insurance Statistics (73-506-G).
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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