Aug. 2, 2023

South Dakota broke the record for the lowest unemployment rate in the U.S., registering 1.8 percent in June.

The state shares the new record with New Hampshire. The national jobless rate in June was 3.6 percent, down from 3.7 percent the previous month and the same as a year ago.

The unemployment rate for the Sioux Falls metro area in June was unchanged at 1.7 percent – the lowest in the country along with four metropolitan areas in New England.

The local rate, which is not seasonally adjusted, represents 2,838 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 May, the number of unemployed was 2,783.

The total labor force for the Sioux Falls MSA, those who are employed and unemployed, was 168,607 in June, up from 167,126 the previous month.

A year ago, the metro area jobless rate also was 1.9 percent, with 3,043 people who were unemployed out of a labor force of 163,710.

Of the largest cities in South Dakota, Pierre had the lowest jobless rate at 1.4 percent and Vermillion the highest at 2.8 percent.

The number of job openings in the Sioux Falls MSA dropped to 15,987 in June, according to the state’s virtual labor market data system. There were 16,827 open positions the previous month. A year ago, there were 18,326 openings.

Nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels in the Sioux Falls MSA rose from May to June by 3,200  people to 175,700, a gain of 1.7 percent. Mining, logging and construction saw the biggest growth at 7.3 percent. Leisure and hospitality also showed a seasonal gain at 4 percent. No categories registered a decline, although manufacturing, private education and health services, and other services remained flat.

Compared with a year ago, nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels were up 3.7 percent in the MSA, which includes Minnehaha, Lincoln, McCook and Turner counties.

South Dakota’s unemployment rate of 1.8 percent, which is seasonally adjusted, represents 8,900 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 9,700 unemployed South Dakotans.

In June, South Dakota’s labor force grew by 1,300 workers to 481,900. A year ago, it was 476,300.

The labor supply, those who would be available to staff a new or expanding business, was estimated at 42,080 people. That’s an increase from 41,050 in May and includes people who are not working and those who would like to change jobs.

The state has more than 24,000 job openings, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

In June, Gov. Kristi Noem started a Freedom Works Here national workforce recruitment advertising campaign, leading to more than 3,500 applicants by late July, according to the governor’s office. Of those, 675 are in the final stages of moving to South Dakota. The most applications have come from California at 603, Texas at 260, Florida at 245, Minnesota at 208 and New York at 148.

This month, the Labor Department is offering help to businesses and those working for jobs.

Businesses that want to learn more about the state’s labor market data can join an online session at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

“The session will cover the labor force data most widely used by employers and how to easily find it online,” said Labor and Regulation Secretary Marcia Hultman. “This can be an essential resource to use in recruitment and retention efforts.”

Advanced registration for the Microsoft Teams session is required at sd.gov.

In Sioux Falls, two recruiting and hiring events will be held at the Sioux Falls Job Service office, 811 E. 10th St.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday and Aug. 17, job seekers can visit, apply and possibly receive an interview with the businesses at the events. Business partners for this week’s event include Fleet Farm, Henkel, Kwik Star, Minnehaha Country Club and Spherion.

Business partners for the Aug. 17 event include Spee-Dee Delivery Services, The Salvation Army, ARC Fabricators, Burlington and CCL Industries.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to remove a reference that 1.7 percent was the Sioux Falls MSA’s lowest unemployment rate.