April 4, 2022

Across South Dakota, the unemployment rate is dipping, the number of employers is growing, and wages are climbing.

According to the most recent quarterly census of South Dakota employers, wages grew 6 percent compared with a year ago. Average weekly wages reached $1,109 in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with $1,048 at the end of 2020.

They dipped in the first quarter of 2021 to $932, saw a slight increase in the second quarter and a larger one in the third quarter, reaching $965, the state’s Labor Market Information Center reported.

The number of employers also continues to grow, reaching a record high of 37,618 in the fourth quarter. In the third quarter, there were 36,983 businesses.

South Dakota employers reported a loss of 2,775 workers in the fourth quarter, dropping to 434,701. The state set a record in June 2021 with 442,632 workers.

The state’s jobless rate was 2.6 percent in February, down from 2.8 percent in January, according to statistics from the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation that have been seasonally adjusted. That represents 12,400 people who do not have jobs, have actively looked for one in the past four weeks and are available to work. A year ago, the rate was 3.2 percent, and there were 14,800 unemployed South Dakotans.

In the Sioux Falls metro area, the unemployment rate rose to 2.7 percent in February, compared with 2.5 percent in January.

The jobless rate, which isn’t seasonally adjusted, represents 4,210 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. The total labor force, those who are employed and unemployed, is 158,652, according to the Labor Department.

In January, there were 4,104 people who were unemployed out of a labor force of 158,401.

In February 2021, the unemployment rate was 3.3 percent, and there were almost 5,300 people who were out of work.

Nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels in the metro area dropped from January to February by 300 people to 159,700, a loss of less than 1 percent. No categories saw shifts in either direction of more than 2.6 percent. Compared with a year ago, nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels are up 2.3 percent in the Sioux Falls area.

In the Sioux Falls area, there were 18,910 job openings in February, according to the state’s virtual labor market data system, which pulls in information from online job postings. That compares with 14,490 openings a year ago.

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in February was 3.8 percent, compared with 6.2 percent a year ago. It was 4 percent in January.