OTTAWA, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- New and renewed jobless benefit claims for Canadian employment insurance dipped 1.6 percent to 233,100 in June, Statistics Canada reported from Ottawa Thursday.
However, the number of ongoing claimants was largely unchanged at 577,400 after eight months of declines, the agency said. Ongoing claims include people receiving benefits for retraining and seasonal layoffs.
The July unemployment rate for Canada's 34.3 million people was 7.2 percent.
The number of new and renewing beneficiaries was down in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, while Newfoundland/Labrador recorded the only notable increase of 4.1 percent, the agency said.
Demographically on an annual basis, the number of men receiving regular jobless benefits fell by 19.6 percent to 279,600, while the number of women receiving regular benefits decreased 16 percent to 194,400, StatsCan said.
