July 2, 2020

The number of new weekly jobless claims processed in South Dakota dropped to 576, a decrease of 334 claims from the prior week’s total of 910.

The South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation reported 17,163 continued claims for the week ending June 13, down 1,486 from the prior week’s 18,649 and more than 8,000 from the pandemic high of 25,186.

“Claimants are being called back to work or accepting other employment and no longer collecting unemployment benefits, which are meant to be temporary in nature,” Labor Secretary Marcia Hultman said. “Additional benefits under the CARES Act helped bridge the gap between the COVID-19 outbreak and the return to normal.”

A total of $3.5 million was paid out in state benefits, in addition to $10.4 million paid out in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, $771,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and $94,000 in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The unemployment insurance trust fund balance June 30 was $129.9 million.