Oct. 1, 2021

The unemployment rate for the Sioux Falls area rose slightly in August.

The jobless rate was 2.4 percent in August, compared with 2.2 percent in July, according to statistics from the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation. That represents 3,915 residents in the four-county MSA who were looking for work in a total labor force of 162,286 people.

In July, there were 3,581 people who were unemployed out of a labor force of 165,046. A year ago, the rate was 4.1 percent and there were 6,381 people who were out of work.

For employers, the city’s low unemployment rate continues to be a struggle. On South Dakota Works, the Labor Department’s listing of job openings, there are 6,776 available positions in Sioux Falls. Sanford Health has the most with 1,100 jobs, and Avera has the second-most with 762 jobs.

Compared with a year ago, nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels are up 4.2 percent in the Sioux Falls area.

From July to August, worker levels dropped by 600 people to 163,000. Leisure and hospitality dropped 2.6 percent, a loss of 400 workers, and professional and business services dropped 2.4 percent, a loss of 400 workers. The subcategory of retail trade dropped 1.6 percent, losing 300 workers. Several categories were flat or saw declines of less than 1 percent.

The largest percentage increase was the construction, mining and logging category at 2.7 percent, a gain of 300 workers. The only other category to see an increase was education and health services at 1.2 percent, or 400 workers.

The state’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 2.9 percent in August, unchanged since it was 2.8 percent in May. That represents 13,600 people who do not have jobs, have actively looked for one in the past four weeks and are available to work. A year ago, the rate was 4.7 percent, and there were 21,400 unemployed South Dakotans.

The national unemployment rate in August was 5.2 percent, compared with 8.4 percent a year ago. It was 5.4 percent in July.

In September, South Dakota and U.S. Bureau of Labor released the second quarter’s census of employment and wages in the state. The number of employers reached a record high of 36,241. Those establishments reported employing 442,089 workers, an increase of 5 percent from the previous quarter.

Average weekly wages rose 3.9 percent to $936.