According to Statistics Canada, the number of people receiving Employment Insurance benefits in the province dropped 3.5% in May.
Marton Lovei is a Data Specialist with the national agency.
“There was 50,900 beneficiaries in BC, which is a 5.1% decrease from May 2016. On a month-by-month basis, there was a 1.9% decrease in the out of claims in British Columbia.”
Year-by-year, Lovei says labour employment grew by 4.2%, continuing an increased trend dating back to Spring of 2015.
He adds however, the data taken by the agency is not because of a change in seasonal jobs.
“If we see a decrease, then means that is a decrease in people receiving benefits. If there’s one occupation, natural and applied sciences, and related occupations, have a 9% decrease compared to April.”
On a national scale, youth ages 15 to 24 saw the biggest drops in EI benefits; a drop of 3.3% for men, and 5% for women.
Canada as a whole drops by 2.4% in insurance beneficiaries, while Alberta saw the biggest decrease at 7.2%.
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