The number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits rose 10.6% in March from the previous month, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.

StatsCan reported that 681,400 people were receiving EI benefits in March, up by 65,300 from the previous month.

The March increase was the largest since the labour market started to deteriorate last October, StatsCan said.

The strongest increases were in Alberta and British Columbia.

While the number of people receiving benefits climbed in March, the number of initial and renewal claims received during that month edged down 1.9%, StatsCan said.

Since October 2008, the number of regular EI beneficiaries has climbed by 36.2%.

In Alberta, the number of regular beneficiaries climbed by 32.1% to 42,200 in March, marking the fastest monthly increase for that province since comparable data are available.

The number of people receiving regular benefits in British Columbia in March increased by 26.7% to 82,200, also marking the fastest monthly increase for that province.

In March, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario all posted increases in the number of regular beneficiaries close to the national average.

IE