EI beneficiaries continue to decline in Saskatchewan

The number of people in Saskatchewan receiving employment insurance benefits continues to fall.

Statistics Canada reported Thursday 16,900 people received regular EI benefits during May, a drop of 1.7 per cent from the previous month.

On a year-over-year basis, the number of recipients has dropped by 10.7 per cent.

Reasons for the decline can be due to a number of circumstance including people returning to work, running out of benefits, or no longer receiving benefits for other reasons.

The number of people making initial and renewal claims also declined.

The agency said 6,930 claims were started or renewed, down 3.1 per cent from the previous month and down 2.5 per cent from May 2017.