Dec. 5, 2022

The unemployment rate for the Sioux Falls metro area rose in October compared with the previous month, which was at its lowest point since 1999.

October’s jobless rate was 1.8 percent, up from 1.5 percent in September, according to statistics from the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation. Only eight metro areas in the U.S. have a lower rate.

The local unemployment rate, which isn’t seasonally adjusted, represents 2,958 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, that figure was 2,546.

The total labor force for the Sioux Falls MSA, those who are employed and unemployed, was 164,219 in October, basically flat from 164,531 in September.

A year ago, the metro area jobless rate was 2.3 percent, with 3,657 people who were unemployed out of a labor force of 159,887.

Nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels in the metro area rose slightly from September to October, increasing by 200 people to 170,700. The category of “other services” saw the biggest increase at 3.1 percent, a gain of 200 workers from September.

Reflecting the changing seasons, leisure and hospitality and the category of mining, logging and construction saw the sharpest declines, both at 2.5 percent, a loss of 400 workers in leisure and hospitality, and 300 workers in the other category.

Compared with a year ago, nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels were up 4.3 percent in the Sioux Falls MSA, which includes Minnehaha, Lincoln, McCook and Turner counties,

The number of job openings continues to climb. In the MSA, there were 19,891 job openings in October, according to the state’s virtual labor market data system, which pulls in information from online job postings. That compares with 18,082 openings in the previous month and 17,052 openings a year ago.

The statewide unemployment rate for October, which is seasonally adjusted, rose to 2.4 percent from 2.3 percent the previous month.

The rate represents 11,300 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 3 percent, and there were 14,000 unemployed South Dakotans.

While the statewide labor force has grown in the past year from 470,000 to 477,800, it dropped by 300 workers from September to October.

The labor supply, those who would be available to staff a new or expanding business, was estimated at 51,220 people. That’s an increase from 48,400 people in September and includes people who do not have jobs and those who would like to change jobs.

The national unemployment rate in October rose to 3.7 percent from 3.5 percent the previous month. A year ago, it was 4.6 percent.