More Canadians Applying For Employment Insurance

The recession has been on the minds of Canadians for quite some time now. Needless to say, it is a situation that has many worried as affording everyday life necessities is becoming a more and more difficult task to accomplish.

The Synergy Merchant Services Blog has kept up on this situation as both good news and bad news concerning the nation's financial climate seem to trade off on a day to day basis.

Sadly, without surprise, one of the major casualties of the recession is job retention. Job losses continue to mount all throughout Canada. As a result, many Canadians are finding it harder to cope with their bills and daily requirements as employment is scarce.

Instead, many are left with no choice but to apply for Employment Insurance benefits. According to Althia Raj of the National Bureau in her Sun Media published article earlier today, the number of EI recipients in the country continue to rise. Her piece reveals some troubling information about the state of the economy in Canada and its affects on working class citizens.

EI applications rose by 5.1% in the month of June, writes Raj. As Statistics Canada reports, “the number of jobless getting benefits increased by 39,500 to 816,630.” This startling number indicates that not only are layoffs rampant in the Canadian workforce but new hiring is certainly not a popular practice as of late.

As Raj writes, Liberal human resources critic Mike Savage explains that even though the statistics indicate that more Canadians are applying for benefits due to lack of employment, they still do not depict the reality of the unemployment situation in Canada. 1.6 million Canadians, says Savage, are jobless and yet are unable to get access to Employment Insurance.

He reports that up to 50% of Canadians who are unemployed cannot get benefits. Not only does this piece of information confirm that the rate of unemployment is increasing but more pressingly connotes that more and more Canadians are being forced to live without the financial means to survive.

Clearly, many citizens across the country are angry and frustrated with the economic downturn facing the nation. The loss of one's job is certainly hard to cope with emotionally. However, when one cannot find an alternative means of securing an income, his or her life is forced to change dramatically.

The recession has been referred to as a “roller coaster” a number of times on the Synergy Merchant Services Blog. On some days, it seems as if things are looking up, and on others the situation is seen as bleak. Unemployment is, without question, the lowest of the “downs” on the recession roller coaster. For most Canadians, the recession will not truly be over until their jobs are restored.