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December 17, 2020EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE, OCTOBER 2020 From March to September, Statistics Canada suspended publication of employment insurance (EI) statistics. Canadians were eligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) during this period. New data for the period from March to September shows how an initial rise in EI claims at the start of the pandemic was reversed as new EI applicants were directed to CERB instead. After September 27, 2020 there was a temporary expansion of EI and CERB recipients were transitioned back to EI.
The new information for October was collected in reference to the period October 11 to 17. Several provinces have tightened public health measures since this information was collected.
In October, 2020 there were 50,410 Nova Scotians in receipt of regular EI. About 1.35 million Canadians received regular EI benefits in October 2020.
Comparing October 2020 with the same month in 2019, EI usage has almost tripled across Canada. In Nova Scotia, EI usage almost doubled over this period. The largest percentage increases in EI usage were in Alberta and British Columbia. The lowest increases in EI usage were reported in Atlantic Canada.
By age and sex cohort, the year over year increase (Oct 2020 vs Oct 2019) in EI usage was notably higher among women. This pattern holds across all age cohorts. The industries whose employment was most affected by public health restrictions and other pandemic precautions had a disproportionate share of female employment.
Among counties (comparing unadjusted results for Oct 2020 with Oct 2019), EI usage increased by the most in Halifax. EI usage also more than doubled in 8 other counties: Hants, Kings, Lunenburg, Colchester, Cumberland, Pictou, Annapolis and Queens.
Note: Statistics Canada has not updated EI usage by occupation.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0011-01 Employment insurance beneficiaries (regular benefits) by province and territory, monthly, seasonally adjusted; Table 14-10-0287-01 Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted and trend-cycle, last 5 months; Table 14-10-0323-01 Employment insurance beneficiaries by census division, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality
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