According to Statistics Canada, Manitoba showed a small increase in the number of people receiving Employment Insurance (EI) benefits compared to last year.
Manitoba had 15,500 people receiving EI benefits in January, up 1.3%. While there was little change in Winnipeg, the number of beneficiaries was up in the rest of the province.
In January, the number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits totalled 543,100, virtually unchanged from the previous month. Seven provinces, however, saw an increase in the number of EI beneficiaries.
The change in the number of regular EI beneficiaries reflects various situations, including people becoming beneficiaries, people going back to work and people no longer receiving regular benefits.
Despite the year-over-year increase, the number of beneficiaries in Canada has levelled out since the summer of 2015.
