The number of people receiving EI benefits declined marginally in April, slipping 0.1% to 667,400 people, Statistics Canada reported on Friday.

That figure has dropped 19.5%, or 161,900, from the peak of 829,300 reached in June 2009.

The number of EI claims filed in April was also little changed from the month before, retreating by 0.2% to 227,800. Claims have also been trending down in the past year, dropping by 30.5% since their peak last May.

Alberta experienced a particularly sharp 4.7% decline in the number of EI recipients, which represented a sixth straight monthly drop. The number of recipients in Nova Scotia fell by 2.4%.

Ontario saw a small increase in the number of EI recipients after six consecutive months of declines. But despite this increase, the number of beneficiaries in Ontario has fallen at the fastest rate of all provinces, down 26.5% since June 2009.

IE