Continued, first-time unemployment claims decrease in South Dakota

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - In a positive sign for South Dakota’s economy, both initial and continued unemployment claims dropped in the state’s most recent jobs report.

Last week’s initial weekly claims fell by 19 to 772. While this number remains higher than pre-pandemic levels of 200-300 claims, it is substantially lower than the peak of over 8,000 earlier this year.

Continued unemployment claims fell by over 2,000 to 16,600. This indicates the number of unemployed workers eligible for and receiving benefits after their initial claim.

Both initial and continued claims had increased in recent weeks after trending downward since early June. The latest jobs reports marks a return toward decreasing unemployment numbers.

“We expect the number of both initial and continued claims to fluctuate week to week,” said state Labor and Regulation Secretary Marcia Hultman. “Some employers are still doing rolling furloughs or temporary bulk layoffs. Any changes, up or down, week to week are not a significant indicator of the overall economy.”

A total of $2.8 million was paid out in state benefits, in addition to $9.7 million paid out in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), $751,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and $96,000 in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits.

The Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund balance was $118.9 million on July 26.