There was a 1.3% rise in the number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits in July, the latest data from Statistics Canada reports.
The increase to 536,600 (an additional 6,800 in the month from June) was the first time in 8 months that the numbers have moved higher. However, changes for the waiting period from two weeks to one, which came into effect in January, disproportionately affected educational workers claiming benefits in July.
There were increases in 6 provinces, led by Manitoba (and including PEI, New Brunswick, Ontario, Nova Scotia and BC.) There was a decrease in Saskatchewan and the other provinces saw little change.
The number of people who were EI beneficiaries in July decreased 8.7% year-over-year.
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