April 1, 2024

The unemployment rate for the Sioux Falls metro area jumped by half of a percentage point to 2.5 percent in February, 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 2 percent in January, according to the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation.

The Sioux Falls unemployment rate, which is not seasonally adjusted and is preliminary, represents 4,082 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 January, the number of unemployed was 3,277.

The total labor force for the Sioux Falls MSA, those who are employed and unemployed, was 162,981 in February, up from 161,882 the previous month.

A year ago, the metro area jobless rate was 2.3 percent, with 3,723 people who were unemployed out of a labor force of 162,069.

The number of job openings in the Sioux Falls MSA dropped to 12,582 in February, according to the state’s virtual labor market data system. There were 13,275 open positions the previous month. A year ago, there were 16,396 openings.

Nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels in the Sioux Falls MSA rose by 1,000 people to 169,800. The category of leisure and hospitality saw the biggest increase at 3.9 percent, followed by professional and business services at 2.5 percent. The biggest decline was 3 percent for the category of “other services, except public administration.”

Compared with a year ago, overall nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels were up 1.3 percent in the MSA.

South Dakota’s unemployment rate was unchanged in February at 2.1 percent.

Only North Dakota had a lower rate at 2 percent. California had the highest unemployment rate at 5.3 percent.

The state’s jobless rate, which is seasonally adjusted, represents 10,000 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 1.9 percent, and there were 9,200 unemployed South Dakotans.

In February, South Dakota’s labor force dropped by 100 workers to 481,500. A year ago, it was 477,500.

The labor supply, those who would be available to staff a new or expanding business, was estimated at 46,575 people. That’s up from 44,055 in January and includes people who are not working and those who would like to change jobs.

The national unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent in February from 3.7 percent in January. A year ago, the rate was 3.6 percent.