South Dakota unemployment claims continue downward trend

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Both first-time and continued unemployment claims continued to trend downward in South Dakota’s latest jobs report.

Initial weekly claims fell by over 100 last week to 442, according to the Department of Labor. First-time claims have fallen for two straight weeks after surging in late October.

Prior to the pandemic, the Department of Labor generally received around 200-300 claims per week. The state received thousands each week in the early months of the pandemic, but that number have hovered between 300-500 in recent months. Officials previously said they expect this number to fluctuate as the economy continues to feel the effects of the coronavirus.

The latest number of continued state claims is 3,406 for the week ending Nov. 7, a decrease of 450 from the prior week’s total of 3,856. This indicates the number of unemployed workers eligible for and receiving benefits after their initial claim.

Labor officials say a total of $721,000 was paid out in state benefits, in addition to $366,000 in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation $321,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and $194,000 in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

Nationwide unemployment claims rose slightly for the first time in weeks to 742,000.