Information released Thursday by Statistics Canada showed there were 563,000 people receiving Employment Insurance benefits in August, a 3% decline from July's level.
The reduction comes a month after new rules saw the EI rolls surge in July, as workers in 15 areas hard hit by the economic slowdown saw benefits expanded.
If the 15 specified areas were not included, the EI number rose in Nova Scotia, was flat in New Brunswick, shrank in Quebec, increased in Ontario, and increased in the Prairie provinces plus British Columbia.
On a year-over-year basis, there were 23,700 fewer people on EI in Canada in August than there were the same month a year earlier.
In August, there were 259,200 new claims for EI, a figure which has increased 7.5% over the same time last year.
