Sask. unemployment rate and number of residents receiving EI benefits show increase; Labour Minister Rob Norris says “This is an exciting time”

A Sept. 23, 2008, Saskatchewan Party government news release proudly reported that because of the strong economy fewer residents are receiving Employment Insurance (EI) benefits.

According to Statistics Canada there were 9,660 people receiving EI benefits in July 2008 a drop of 14.7 per cent from the same month one year ago. This is the second largest drop in recipients of EI benefits across Canada.

“This is an exciting time for Saskatchewan, and I know that there are more great things in store for our province,” Norris said. “We are committed to ensuring our province remains a leader in Canada and the New West.”

Although the figures might be accurate they are deceiving since the government is looking only at the month of July.

In the article Number of EI recipients spikes (StarPhoenix, Sept. 24, 2008) the federal agency said provincially Saskatchewan experienced the second largest increase of EI recipients in July from June (up 18.8 per cent) just behind Manitoba, which was up 21.1 per cent.

On Aug. 27, 2008, the province reported that there were 7,860 people receiving regular EI benefits in June. This means there were approximately 1,800 more residents collecting regular EI benefits in July than June. This wasn’t mentioned in the news release.

In May the number of individuals receiving regular EI benefits were reportedly 7,090 – or 2,570 fewer than July. The numbers seem to be headed in the wrong direction.

The 9,660 people receiving regular EI benefits in July appears to be the highest monthly total since last summer and is the largest so far under the new Saskatchewan Party government. In Oct. 2007, the final full month of the former NDP regime, there were approximately 8,600 residents receiving regular EI benefits.

The province’s unemployment rate under the Saskatchewan Party appears to be creeping upward as well.

According to Statistics Canada’s monthly Labour Force Survey Saskatchewan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Aug. 2008 was 4.5 per cent (up from 4.4 per cent in July).

The 4.5 per cent rate appears to be the highest so far under the Saskatchewan Party and is up from the 4.3 per cent recorded in Oct. 2007 during that last full month of the NDP government.

The following table shows the number of Saskatchewan residents receiving regular EI benefits and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate as presented by Statistics Canada in its monthly reports and may not reflect any adjustments made by the agency since then.

	# People on Regular EI	Unemployment Rate (%)
August 2008	N/A	4.5
July 2008	9,660	4.4
June 2008	7,860	4.0
May 2008	7,090	4.1
April 2008	7,650	4.3
March 2008	8,160	4.1
February 2008	7,680	4.1
January 2008	8,280	3.9
December 2007	8,440	4.0
November 2007	8,160	4.0
October 2007	8,600	4.3
September 2007	9,000	3.8