Feb. 8, 2023

The unemployment rate for the Sioux Falls metro area rose in December, but there are fewer jobs that need to be filled.

The jobless rate was 2 percent, up from 1.7 percent in November, according to statistics from the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation.

The local unemployment rate, which isn’t seasonally adjusted, represents 3,197 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 November, the number of unemployed was 2,786.

The total labor force for the Sioux Falls MSA, those who are employed and unemployed, was 162,847 in December, down from 164,374 in November.

A year ago, the metro area jobless rate was 2.4 percent, with 3,776 people who were unemployed out of a labor force of 159,168.

The number of job openings fell for the fifth consecutive month. In the MSA, there were 14,548 job openings in December, according to the state’s virtual labor market data system. That compares with 16,368 open positions in the previous month and 18,776 openings a year ago. Job openings peaked at 23,341 in July.

Nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels in the metro area fell slightly from November to December, dropping by 800 people to 170,000. The category that includes construction saw the biggest decline at 8 percent, a drop of 900 workers from November.

Going into Christmas, retail saw a second month of gains, rising by 3 percent, an increase of 600 workers.

Compared with a year ago, nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels were up 4.4 percent in the Sioux Falls MSA, which includes Minnehaha, Lincoln, McCook and Turner counties.

The statewide unemployment rate for December, which is seasonally adjusted, dropped from 2.4 percent to 2.3 percent.

The rate represents 11,000 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 2.9 percent, and there were 13,600 unemployed South Dakotans.

While the statewide labor force has grown in the past year from 469,900 to 477,200, it dropped by 200 workers from November to December.

The labor supply, those who would be available to staff a new or expanding business, was estimated at 51,700 people. That’s an increase from 50,500 people in November and includes people are not working and those who would like to change jobs.

The national unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent in December from 3.7 percent the previous month. A year ago, it was 3.9 percent.