Alberta saw the biggest increase in people receiving employment insurance benefits in March, rising by 8.9 per cent, Statistics Canada says.
The number of people getting EI benefits across the county rose to 517,900 in March — up 2,600 from the same month last year and the first year-over-year increase since February 2010.
The uptick in Alberta was the fifth consecutive monthly increase for the province and the second-biggest since June 2009.
In March, the number of beneficiaries rose in Calgary by 7.8 per cent and in Edmonton by 5.5 per cent. In the rest of Alberta, the number of EI beneficiaries went up 13.3 per cent.
Beneficiaries up nationally
Saskatchewan had the second-biggest increase between February and March, with the number of people getting EI benefits up 3.8 per cent to 12,300.
Other increases were recorded in Nova Scotia — up 2.8 per cent to 28,400 — Newfoundland and Labrador — up 2.2 per cent to 32,900 — and Manitoba — up two per cent to 13,900.
British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and Ontario had smaller increases, New Brunswick had little change and Quebec saw the number of EI beneficiaries drop by 1.5 per cent from February.
The number of beneficiaries nationally could be poised to go down.
Claims down
New EI claims edged down by 1.5 per cent after two consecutive monthly increases.
Provincially, claims were down 5 per cent in Manitoba, 4.3 per cent in Ontario and 1.5 per cent in Quebec. But they were up 3.4 per cent in Saskatchewan and 2.2 per cent in British Columbia.
There was little change in the other provinces, Statistics Canada says.
