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Employment Insurance Beneficiaries Decrease in September 2024

In September 2024, the number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits decreased by 9,600, representing a 1.9% drop from the previous month. This decline follows a period of relative stability in August. Despite this monthly decrease, the year-over-year figures show an increase of 23,000 beneficiaries, marking a 4.9% rise compared to September 2023.

Employment figures for September 2024 indicate a rise of 47,000 jobs, equating to a 0.2% increase, while the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 6.5%. However, when compared to the same month in the previous year, the unemployment rate has increased by 0.9 percentage points.

The data also highlights that the number of unemployed individuals who had been laid off rose to 463,000, an increase of 4.5% or 20,000 people, not seasonally adjusted. The variations in EI beneficiary numbers can be attributed to several factors, including individuals starting to receive benefits, returning to work, exhausting their benefits, or no longer qualifying for other reasons.

The report further notes that the number of EI recipients decreased across all major age groups for both men and women in September. Among women, the most significant decline was observed in the core-age group (25 to 54 years), with a reduction of 4,600 recipients, or 3.9%.