Employment insurance numbers on rise in Saskatchewan
Big hikes in claimants noted in Regina, Saskatoon
The number of people receiving employment insurance in Saskatchewan continues to be a lot higher than a year ago, Statistics Canada says.
There were 13,590 people collecting EI in June, an increase of 2,640 from a year ago, according to the federal statistics agency's June report.
That's an increase of 24 per cent of beneficiaries receiving regular income benefits.
That's well below the situation in Alberta, where the number of claimants increased 73 per cent from June 2014 to June 2015.
EI claimants in Regina went up 23 per cent from June to June, while in Saskatoon, the figure was just under 33 per cent, StatsCan said.
All figures are seasonally adjusted.
The Saskatchewan economy has been slowing down amid a big drop in crude oil prices.
In the spring, the Saskatchewan government projected the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude would be about US$53 in 2015, but in the past day, the price has dropped below $42.