The information itself is not that surprising, given the unemployment numbers that have already been published. Another interesting question is how well the social safety net is funded.
In February, the number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits increased by 44,300 or 7.8% from January. Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan experienced the strongest increases.
Another obvious but interesting point is:
Regional data and data by sex and age on Employment Insurance are not seasonally adjusted and therefore should only be compared on a year-over-year basis.
Between February 2008 and February 2009, there was a larger increase in the number of men receiving regular benefits (+36.7%) compared with women (+20.6%).
More men than women getting on “the dole”? Not sure that is significant, but it does seem to be a topic that the media is harping on, about how this is a “Male Recession”, not sure I buy it, but it is an interesting point.
In previous years the government has used EI overruns as a crutch to help pay off debt, wonder what is going to happen now?
By Metropolitan Area
The Stats Canada report is quite thorough (as usual, but this table really does tweak my interest):
| February 2008 | February 2009p | February 2008 to February 2009 | February 2008 to February 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unadjusted for seasonality | ||||
| number | change in number | % change | ||
| Newfoundland and Labrador | ||||
| St. John's | 5,330 | 6,030 | 700 | 13.1 |
| Nova Scotia | ||||
| Halifax | 5,290 | 6,570 | 1,280 | 24.2 |
| New Brunswick | ||||
| Saint John | 2,330 | 2,560 | 230 | 9.9 |
| Quebec | ||||
| Saguenay | 6,280 | 6,640 | 360 | 5.7 |
| Quebec | 12,700 | 15,110 | 2,410 | 19.0 |
| Sherbrooke | 3,750 | 4,560 | 810 | 21.6 |
| Trois-Rivieres | 4,380 | 4,790 | 410 | 9.4 |
| Montreal | 62,750 | 74,380 | 11,630 | 18.5 |
| Ottawa/Gatineau, Gatineau part | 3,780 | 4,340 | 560 | 14.8 |
| Ontario | ||||
| Ottawa–Gatineau, Ottawa part | 5,980 | 7,290 | 1,310 | 21.9 |
| Kingston | 1,540 | 1,940 | 400 | 26.0 |
| Oshawa | 5,290 | 6,470 | 1,180 | 22.3 |
| Toronto | 54,460 | 87,440 | 32,980 | 60.6 |
| Hamilton | 7,270 | 13,330 | 6,060 | 83.4 |
| St. Catharines–Niagara | 7,870 | 10,980 | 3,110 | 39.5 |
| Kitchener | 5,240 | 10,270 | 5,030 | 96.0 |
| London | 5,450 | 9,970 | 4,520 | 82.9 |
| Windsor | 5,720 | 11,660 | 5,940 | 103.8 |
| Greater Sudbury | 2,470 | 3,690 | 1,220 | 49.4 |
| Thunder Bay | 2,540 | 2,940 | 400 | 15.7 |
| Manitoba | ||||
| Winnipeg | 5,370 | 7,380 | 2,010 | 37.4 |
| Saskatchewan | ||||
| Regina | 1,220 | 1,350 | 130 | 10.7 |
| Saskatoon | 1,510 | 2,360 | 850 | 56.3 |
| Alberta | ||||
| Calgary | 5,460 | 11,690 | 6,230 | 114.1 |
| Edmonton | 5,540 | 10,880 | 5,340 | 96.4 |
| British Columbia | ||||
| Abbotsford | 2,210 | 3,380 | 1,170 | 52.9 |
| Vancouver | 16,290 | 28,550 | 12,260 | 75.3 |
| Victoria | 1,870 | 3,530 | 1,660 | 88.8 |
You might have guessed that Windsor might be taking a beating. The area around Toronto is similar. Calgary is taking a beating too (for claimants at least). Kitchener and Vancouver's numbers are quite concerning as well.
Employment Discussions 2009
📈 Red: 2008–2009 Financial Crisis
📈 Orange: 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic
📈 Green: 2022–2025 Post-Pandemic Recovery
- Unemployment Up Sharply to 7.2% in January 2009 the impact of the great meltdown was starting to settle in.
- Bad Unemployment and No Pensions for February 2009 things were very not good back then.
- Unemployment Up Again to 8.0% March 2009 not too surprising really. March was still deep in the heart of the meltdown.
- Unemployment Up a Bit for April 2009 so these are the actual Unemployed count from Stats Canada
- More Folks on EI in April 2009 - a sad time still
- Unemployment Numbers up a Little - The numbers for June 2009
- For July 2009 Unemployment Rate Hovers - is this a plateau? Hard to tell.
- Better Employment Numbers September 2009 - shows that life started to get better as 2009 went on. We hoped.
- Less Employed in October 2009 8.6% Unemployed - OK so our hopes were dashed for a while.
- November 2009 Employment Numbers: A Festivus Miracle! a month early for Festivus, but good news, is good news.
- Nothing New on Jobs Front for December 2009 the year did not end with a bang unfortunately.
