Unemployment rates, while significantly lower than the alarming pandemic peak of 14.7% experienced in April 2020, remain a subject of concern, though experts’ views on a potential recession are mixed. The last economic recession—the Great Recession of 2007-2009—sent rates up to 10% as of October 2009. It was not until the spring of 2019 that unemployment finally went down to the same level it sits at now.
As of April 2023, national unemployment is at 3.4%, with little change from March. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates by state demonstrate a rather sizable spectrum, ranging from just 1.9% in South Dakota to 5.4% in Nevada.
Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest unemployment rates in South Dakota using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Counties are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in March 2023, with initial ties broken by the number of unemployed people within that county, though some ties may remain.
#50. Lincoln County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.5%
— 1 month change: Down 0.5 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
– Total labor force: 37,909 people (564 unemployed)
#49. Pennington County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.5%
— 1 month change: Down 0.8 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.6 percentage points
– Total labor force: 59,814 people (925 unemployed)
#40. Davison County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
— 1 month change: Down 0.7 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.4 percentage points
– Total labor force: 11,093 people (181 unemployed)
#39. McCook County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.7%
— 1 month change: Down 0.6 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
– Total labor force: 3,178 people (54 unemployed)
#35. Sanborn County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.8%
— 1 month change: Down 0.7 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.6 percentage points
– Total labor force: 1,256 people (22 unemployed)
#33. Minnehaha County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.8%
— 1 month change: Down 0.6 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 117,759 people (2,075 unemployed)
#13. Hanson County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.5%
— 1 month change: Down 0.7 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 1.1 percentage points
– Total labor force: 1,823 people (46 unemployed)
#10. Marshall County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.9%
— 1 month change: Down 0.2 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.7 percentage points
– Total labor force: 2,510 people (73 unemployed)
#9. Jackson County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 3%
— 1 month change: Down 1.3 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.4 percentage points
– Total labor force: 1,182 people (36 unemployed)
#8. Dewey County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 3%
— 1 month change: Down 1.0 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.5 percentage points
– Total labor force: 2,314 people (69 unemployed)
#7. Oglala Lakota County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.1%
— 1 month change: Down 1.5 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.6 percentage points
– Total labor force: 3,740 people (115 unemployed)
#6. Walworth County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.4%
— 1 month change: Down 1.0 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.9 percentage points
– Total labor force: 2,067 people (71 unemployed)
#5. Day County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.4%
— 1 month change: Down 0.6 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.9 percentage points
– Total labor force: 2,674 people (90 unemployed)
#4. Grant County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
— 1 month change: Down 0.5 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
– Total labor force: 4,467 people (158 unemployed)
#3. Roberts County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
— 1 month change: Down 0.3 percentage points
— 1 year change: Down 0.6 percentage points
– Total labor force: 4,623 people (160 unemployed)
#2. Buffalo County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
— 1 month change: Down 1.2 percentage points
— 1 year change: Up 1.0 percentage points
– Total labor force: 722 people (26 unemployed)
#1. Deuel County
– March unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
— 1 month change: Down 0.8 percentage points
— 1 year change: No change
– Total labor force: 2,245 people (80 unemployed)
