The number of Canadians on Employment Insurance is still rising, but the jobless rate shows signs of slowing, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.
In April, 697,000 people were drawing EI benefits, an increase of 2.7 per cent, or 18,600 people, from March.
The month-by-month increase was the smallest in the past six months.
In addition, the StatsCan report shows that while the number of EI claims was up, initial and renewal claims received were down 1.7 per cent.
Alberta and Saskatchewan showed the fastest rate of growth in April.
Alberta saw an increase of 16.3 per cent, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 48,300, while Saskatchewan registered an increase of 12.2 per cent, bringing the total to 13,200.
Since October 2008, when the effects of the global recession began to take effect here, the number of people on EI has risen by 39.3 per cent, with all provinces and territories in Canada registering an increase.
Ontario's hard-hit manufacturing industry accounted for much of a 4.4 per cent increase in the number of people on employment insurance in April, compared to one month earlier.
Since October 2008, Ontario's total number of beneficiaries has risen by a whopping 48.8 per cent, or 75,400 people receiving employment benefits.
Quebec and the Atlantic provinces showed smaller increases in the same period, falling below the national average of 39.3 per cent.
After several months of large increases in the number of EI beneficiaries, British Columbia recorded an increase of just 1.7 per cent from March. That brought the total to 82,700 beneficiaries.
Since October 2008, B.C. has recorded an increase of 81.6 per cent, or 37,200 beneficiaries.
