The number of people in Alberta receiving regular employment insurance benefits declined by more than 26 per cent over the previous year as of March, according to data released Thursday by Statistics Canada.
About 60,100 Albertans received employment insurance benefits in March. Compared to the same period a year earlier, Alberta recorded the fastest year-over-year decline in the number of beneficiaries among all provinces.
That figure was also down 2.4 per cent, or 1,500 recipients, compared to one month earlier in February.
The trend corresponds with changes in the unemployment rate in the province throughout the past year.
Calgary’s unemployment rate was at eight per cent as of April, about 1.5 percentage points higher than the provincial figure. The unemployment rate in Calgary was at 9.2 per cent in April 2017.
Alberta recorded real GDP growth of 4.9 per cent in 2017, following declines of 3.9 per cent in 2015 and 3.6 per cent in 2016, according to Statistics Canada.
A similar decline in employment insurance claims was observed nationally. More than 470,000 Canadians received benefits in March, which was down 14 per cent, or close to 77,000 fewer beneficiaries, from 12 months earlier.
Canada experienced a 1.5 per cent decline in claims from February to March of this year, with 7,300 fewer employment insurance beneficiaries.
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