Aug. 6, 2024

While the unemployment rate in the Sioux Falls metro area ticked up to 1.9 percent in June, it’s still tied for the lowest spot in the country.

Burlington-South Burlington, Vermont, had the same rate, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Both metro areas had jobless rates of 1.7 percent in May – also the lowest among the 389 metropolitan areas.

The metro area with the highest rate was El Centro, California, at 16.4 percent, up 1 percentage point from the previous month.

For the Sioux Falls metro area, which includes Minnehaha, Lincoln, McCook and Turner counties, 1.9 percent unemployment represents 3,147 people, according to the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation.

The jobless rate, which is not seasonally adjusted and is preliminary, represents 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 May, the number of unemployed was 2,873.

The total labor force for the Sioux Falls MSA, those who are employed and unemployed, was 166,821 in June, up from 165,476 the previous month.

A year ago, the metro area jobless rate was 1.8 percent, with 2,930 people who were unemployed out of a labor force of 167,045.

The number of job openings in the Sioux Falls MSA dropped to 12,193 in June, according to the state’s virtual labor market data system. There were 12,445 open positions the previous month. A year ago, there were 15,987 openings.

Nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels in the Sioux Falls MSA rose by 2,600 people to 176,200 from May to June. Two categories saw 4.7 percent increases: leisure and hospitality with an additional 800 jobs and mining, logging and construction with 500 more jobs. The only categories with declines were private education and health services, which dropped 1.1 percent, or 400 workers, and financial activities, down 0.7 percent, a loss of 100 jobs.

Compared with a year ago, overall nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels were up by 400 workers in the MSA.

South Dakota’s unemployment rate was unchanged in June at 2 percent, the lowest rate in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The District of Columbia had the highest jobless rate at 5.3 percent, followed by California and Nevada at 5.2 percent.

The state’s jobless rate, which is seasonally adjusted, represents 9,500 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 2 percent, and there were 9,500 unemployed South Dakotans.

In June, South Dakota’s labor force rose by 100 people to 481,600 from the previous month. A year ago, it was 480,500.

The labor supply, those who would be available to staff a new or expanding business, was estimated at 42,385 people. That’s up from 40,950 in May and includes people who are not working and those who would like to change jobs.

The national unemployment rate rose to 4.1 percent in June from 4 percent in May. A year ago, the rate was 3.6 percent.