Aug. 3, 2022

The unemployment rate in June the Sioux Falls metro area was 2.1 percent, up slightly from 1.9 percent in May.

The jobless rate, which isn’t seasonally adjusted, represents 3,453 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.

The total labor force, those who are employed and unemployed, was 166,199, up from 163,003 in May, according to statistics from the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation.

A year ago, the metro area jobless rate was 3 percent, with 4,827 people who were unemployed out of a labor force of 156,347.

Nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels in the metro area rose from May to June by 2,100 people to 169,700, a gain of 1.3 percent. The category of leisure and hospitality saw the biggest increase at 3.7 percent, a gain of 600 workers from May. Professional and business services also added 600 workers, an increase of 3.6 percent. Mining, logging and construction added 400 workers, an increase of 3.4 percent.

Education and health services was the only category to see a decline, with a loss of 400 workers, a drop of 1.1 percent from the previous month.

Compared with a year ago, nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels were up 3.3 percent in the Sioux Falls area.

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

That rate represents 10,800 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. A year ago, the rate was 3.2 percent, and there were 15,200 unemployed South Dakotans.

The statewide labor force has grown in the past year from 468,600 to 477,300, a 1.9 percent increase.

The national unemployment rate in June also was unchanged from May at 3.6 percent. A year ago, it was 5.9 percent.