Employment Insurance (EI) Claims are going down in Weyburn, according to the latest Labour Force Survey estimates.

Weyburn is only part of the drop, however, as the economic region comprising Estevan, Regina and Weyburn has reported drops in claims.

Total EI Regular Claims in October were down more than 26 per cent from last year and 20 per cent from last month. There were 125 claims at the Weyburn office throughout the month, 75 of which were from men and 50 from women.

This drop in EI claims comes as Human Resources Development Canada reports an unemployment rate for the region of 4.5 per cent - a drop of 0.6 per cent from the September rate of 5.1. The rate is also down from last year's 4.9 per cent.

Claims from men were down by more than 26 per cent since October 2000, and by nearly 13 per cent from last month. Men between the ages of 25 and 54 made the majority of claims, but those between the ages of 25-34 had the largest decrease in claims with 17 claims, as compared to September's 35 claims.

The largest part of the decrease in claims from men since last year is in the trades, transportation and equipment operation group, where there were 14 fewer claims from last year.

This group also accounted for the decline in claims from men since September. This is mostly due to increased activity in construction and related services to oil and gas exploration.

Women made 25 per cent fewer claims from last year and almost 30 per cent fewer from those made in September. The majority of claims made in October came from women aged 25-44

The decrease in claims from women since last year was almost entirely in sales and service occupations. The largest decrease came from women aged 15-19 years old, which had 50 per cent less claims from last year and a 100 per cent decrease on small numbers from last month.