Nunavut EI claims rise

Nunavut was the only jurisdiction in Canada to post an increase in Employment Insurance applications last year, new figures from Statistics Canada revealed May 19.

The number of Nunavummiut receiving EI payments jumped from 500 to 540 between March 2010 and March 2011, an increase of eight per cent. Across Canada, the number of EI recipients dropped nearly 10 per cent over the same period.

In Yukon, the figure dropped 2.9 per cent, while the number of EI claimants in the Northwest Territories held steady.

The March 2011 figures are down 1.8 per cent from the month before, when 550 Nunavummiut were receiving jobless benefits. There were 210 new EI claims in Nunavut in March, an increase of 40 from the year before.