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The number of Calgary-area residents collecting employment insurance benefits rose for a 19th consecutive month in March, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

The Calgary area had 22,130 EI recipients in March, the federal agency said, up 2.5 per cent from February and 75.3 per cent from March 2015.

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The number of EI recipients in the city has been steadily climbing since September 2014 and has more than doubled since that time.

Provincially, the number of EI recipients has been climbing for the same 19-month period. Alberta as a whole had 67,600 EI recipients in March, up 3.3 per cent from February, and 67.6 per cent from March 2014.

ATB Financial economist Nick Ford said the number of EI recipients provincially in March was only 2,800 shy of the record high reached in July 2009.

Meanwhile, the number of new EI claims in Alberta remains high — there were 31,750 initial and renewal claims in March, down slightly from February, but well above longtime averages for the province.

The rising number of beneficiaries isn’t unexpected, said Ford.

“Alberta’s employment picture is weak and is expected to remain so until the end of the year,” he wrote in a commentary Thursday.

“There’s no doubt that over the next few months, the number of Albertans looking to collect employment insurance will march higher.”

The federal government’s decision to add Edmonton to the list of regions that qualify for extended EI benefits is also likely to cause the number of beneficiaries to remain higher for longer, said Ford.