Feb. 7, 2024

The unemployment rate rose to 1.8 percent in the Sioux Falls metro area in December, while the number of job openings fell.

The unemployment rate for the local metro area, which includes Minnehaha, Lincoln, McCook and Turner counties, was up from 1.5 percent in November, according to the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation.

While the rate increased, Sioux Falls is among nine of the 389 metro areas in the U.S. with a jobless rate of less than 2 percent.

The Sioux Falls unemployment rate, which is not seasonally adjusted and is preliminary, represents 2,982 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. In November, the number of unemployed was 2,551.

The total labor force for the Sioux Falls MSA, those who are employed and unemployed, was 165,761 in December, down from 167,551 the previous month.

A year ago, the metro area jobless rate was 1.9 percent, with 3,107 people who were unemployed out of a labor force of 161,466.

The number of job openings in the Sioux Falls MSA dropped to 12,665 in December, according to the state’s virtual labor market data system. There were 14,230 open positions the previous month. A year ago, there were 15,028 openings.

Nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels in the Sioux Falls MSA dropped by 400 people to 174,100. Professional and business services saw the biggest decline at 2.9 percent. Transportation, warehousing and utilities saw the biggest increase at 1.6 percent – a repeat of November’s performance.

Compared with a year ago, overall nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels were up 3.1 percent in the MSA.

South Dakota’s unemployment rate was unchanged for December at 2 percent. That was the rate in October and November. The only states with lower rates for the final month of 2023 were North Dakota and Maryland at 1.9 percent.

The state’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 10,300 unemployed South Dakotans.

In December, South Dakota’s labor force rose by 200 workers to 485,400. A year ago, it was 475,100.

The labor supply, those who would be available to staff a new or expanding business, was estimated at 51,435 people. That’s up from 50,350 in November and includes people who are not working and those who would like to change jobs.

The national unemployment rate was unchanged in December at 3.7 percent. A year ago, the rate was 3.5 percent.