Canadians getting jobless benefits up in July, Alberta still weak

OTTAWA, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The number of Canadians
receiving regular unemployment benefits rose in July, including
in oil-sensitive Alberta, with increases seen nationally among
trade and construction workers, data from Statistics Canada
showed on Thursday.
There were 10,450 more people receiving employment insurance
benefits in the month, a 2.0 percent increase from June.
Compared to the year before, those receiving benefits increased
by 36,130, or 7.1 percent.
In Alberta, where oil companies having been laying off
workers in response to the slump in crude prices, the number of
beneficiaries rose by 950, or 1.8 percent, to 52,660. Since last
July when the oil downturn was just starting, the number of
Albertans receiving benefits has surged 72.2 percent.
Still, Alberta's July increase was less than the more than 3
percent increases seen in the provinces of British Columbia and
Ontario.
"If there is any surprise with the numbers out this morning,
it is that the increase wasn't even greater," Todd Hirsch, chief
economist at ATB Financial, said of July's figures.
The pattern so far looks similar to the downturn that hit
Alberta six years ago, when the number of people receiving
benefits spiked suddenly after a long period of stability,
Hirsch wrote in a note.
"If a similar pattern occurs this time around, we can expect
the number of recipients to continue to rise in the coming
months - perhaps rising back to 70,000 or even higher," he said.
Oil-exporting Canada was in a mild recession in the first
half of the year, but economists and policy makers expect the
economy to pick up over the rest of 2015. The Bank of Canada has
cut interest rates twice this year to boost the economy and is
widely expected to stand pat for now.
Nationally, workers whose last job had been in the trades,
transport and equipment operators and related occupations led
July's increase, rising by 4,060. Within that category,
construction trades saw an increase in benefits of 1,340.
However, in a potentially encouraging sign, the number of
employment insurance claims dropped by 12.6 percent to 229,220
in July. The number of claims gives an indication as to the
number of people who could become beneficiaries.