Nov. 27, 2023

The unemployment rate for the Sioux Falls metro area jumped to 1.9 percent in October, and the number of job openings fell by 7.7 percent.

The jobless rate was 1.6 percent in September, according to the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation. The Sioux Falls unemployment rate, which is not seasonally adjusted and is preliminary, represents 3,118 residents in the four-county MSA 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. In September, the number of unemployed was 2,633.

The total labor force for the Sioux Falls MSA, those who are employed and unemployed, was 166,955 in October, down from 167,979 the previous month.

A year ago, the metro area jobless rate was 1.7 percent, with 2,730 people who were unemployed out of a labor force of 162,620.

The number of job openings in the Sioux Falls MSA fell to 13,982 in October, according to the state’s virtual labor market data system. There were 15,106 open positions the previous month. A year ago, there were 17,661 openings.

Nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels in the Sioux Falls MSA dipped slightly in October to 173,600. Financial activities saw the biggest increase at 1.4 percent. Leisure and hospitality saw the biggest decline at 2.9 percent, followed by retail trade at 2.5 percent.

Compared with a year ago, nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels were up 2.3 percent in the MSA, which includes Minnehaha, Lincoln, McCook and Turner counties.

South Dakota’s unemployment rate rose to 2 percent in October, compared with 1.9 percent in September. Only Maryland at 1.7 percent and North Dakota at 1.9 percent had lower rates. Nevada had the highest jobless rate at 4.5 percent.

South Dakota’s jobless rate, which is seasonally adjusted, represents 9,900 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 2.2 percent, and there were 10,500 unemployed South Dakotans.

In October, South Dakota’s labor force grew by 700 workers from the previous month to 484,700. A year ago, it was 475,000.

The labor supply, those who would be available to staff a new or expanding business, was estimated at 52,400 people. That’s a 13.9 percent increase from 46,005 in September and includes people who are not working and those who would like to change jobs.

The national unemployment rate was 3.9 percent in October, up from 3.8 percent in September. A year ago, the rate was 3.7 percent.