June 4, 2025

Sioux Falls and Rapid City tied for the country’s lowest unemployment rates for metro areas in April.

The jobless rate for Sioux Falls was unchanged at 1.8 percent while Rapid City’s rate rose to that amount from 1.7 percent in March, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Across the country, unemployment rates were higher in 286 of the 387 metro areas compared with a year ago.

For the Sioux Falls metro area, which includes Minnehaha, Lincoln, McCook and Turner counties and Rock County in Minnesota, the 1.8 percent rate for April represents 3,118 unemployed people, according to the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation. In March, the number of unemployed was 3,202.

The jobless rate, which is not seasonally adjusted and is preliminary, represents residents who do not have jobs, have actively looked for one in the past four weeks and are available to work. It also includes those who have been laid off temporarily.

The total labor force for the Sioux Falls MSA, those who are employed and unemployed, was 177,594 in April, an increase from 174,801 the previous month.

A year ago, the metro area jobless rate was 1.6 percent.

The labor supply, those who would be available to staff a new or expanding business, was estimated at 14,910 people in the metro area, down from 16,000 in March. That includes people who are not working and those who would like to change jobs.

The number of job openings in the Sioux Falls MSA, which has been updated now to include Rock County in Minnesota, rose to 12,545 in April, according to the state’s virtual labor market data system. There were 11,969 open positions the previous month. A year ago, there were 13,781 openings.

Nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels in the Sioux Falls MSA rose by 400 people to 180,000 in April compared with the previous month. The biggest percentage increases – 5.8 percent — were in the categories of mining, logging and construction with 700 jobs and leisure and hospitality with 900 jobs. The only decline was in the information category, which dropped 3.7 percent, or 100 jobs.

Compared with a year ago, overall nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels were up by 1,500 people in the MSA. Mining, logging and construction was 9.4 percent higher than a year ago, while leisure and hospitality was down 6.3 percent.

South Dakota’s unemployment rate was unchanged in April at 1.8 percent and once again was the lowest rate in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The next-lowest rate was North Dakota at 2.6 percent — unchanged from the previous month. The District of Columbia had the highest unemployment rate at 5.8 percent, followed by Nevada at 5.6 percent.

South Dakota’s jobless rate, which is seasonally adjusted, represents 9,000 people who do not have jobs, have actively looked for one in the past four weeks and are available to work, along with those laid off temporarily, according to the state Labor Department. A year ago, the rate was 1.8 percent, and there were 8,600 unemployed South Dakotans.

In April, South Dakota’s labor force rose by 700 people to 493,600 from the previous month. A year ago, it was 486,300.

The labor supply, those who would be available to staff a new or expanding business, was estimated at 41,270 people. That’s down from 43,685 in March and includes people who are not working and those who would like to change jobs.

The national unemployment rate was unchanged in April at 4.2 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.9 percent.