Nov. 7, 2022

The unemployment rate for the Sioux Falls metro fell to 1.5 percent in September — the lowest it has been since December 1999.

Only three metro areas across the United States had lower unemployment rates: Mankato-North Mankato, Minnesota, at 1.3 percent, and Columbia, Missouri, and Fargo at 1.4 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For the Sioux Falls area, the September jobless rate was down from 2 percent in August, according to the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation.

The local unemployment rate for September, which isn’t seasonally adjusted, represents 2,546 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 August, that figure was 3,332.

The total labor force for the Sioux Falls MSA, those who are employed and unemployed, was 164,531 in September, down from 165,402 in August.

A year ago, the metro area jobless rate was 2.2 percent, with 3,495 people who were unemployed out of a labor force of 158,762.

Nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels in the metro area were unchanged from August to September, remaining at 170,900 people. The category of government saw the biggest increase at 9.7 percent, a gain of 1,400 workers from August.

Reflecting the changing seasons, leisure and hospitality saw the sharpest decline at 2.9 percent, a loss of 500 workers compared with August.

Compared with a year ago, nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels were up 4.8 percent in the Sioux Falls area.

In the MSA, which includes Minnehaha, Lincoln, McCook and Turner counties, there were 18,082 job openings in September, according to the state’s virtual labor market data system, which pulls in information from online job postings. That compares with 18,781 openings in the previous month and 20,738 openings a year ago.

The statewide unemployment rate for September, which is seasonally adjusted, remained unchanged at 2.3 percent.

The rate represents 11,100 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 3.1 percent, and there were 14,400 unemployed South Dakotans.

While the statewide labor force has grown in the past year from 469,700 to 478,100, it dropped by 300 workers from August to September.

The labor supply, those who would be available to staff a new or expanding business was estimated at 48,400 people. This includes people who do not have jobs and those who would like to change jobs.

The national unemployment rate in September dropped to 3.5 percent from 3.7 percent in August. A year ago, it was 4.7 percent.