South Dakota Initial Jobless Claims Rise Again

The South Dakota Department of Labor has released their latest jobs report and once again, it's a mixed bag.

While continued unemployment claims continued to decline, initial weekly claims rose again last week.

As reported by Dakota News Now, continued claims dropped about 1,000 to 15,942 for the week ending June 27.  Continued claims represent the number of unemployed workers who are eligible for and receiving benefits after their initial claim.

It's a different story when it comes to first-time unemployment assistance claims. For the week ending July 11, claims increased over 300 to 1,160.  Initial claims have risen for the second straight week, after a steady decline.

There had been a downward trend in initial claims recently after peaking of over 8,000 for one-week, a record high for South Dakota.  In a pre-pandemic environment, the number of initial claims ranged from 200 to 300 per week.

It's important to note that the $600 weekly bonus benefit will end soon.

“The $600 additional weekly benefit under the CARES Act that has been federally funded will end soon. The last payment will be on claims for the week ending July 25,” said state Labor and Regulation Secretary Marcia Hultman. “This additional unemployment provision helped bridge the gap between the COVID-19 outbreak and the return to normal.”

Nationwide, another 1.3 million Americans filed for unemployment last week. The previous record for initial claims in a single week was in 1982 when 665,000 workers filed. This is the 17th consecutive week where more than 1 million Americans filed for unemployment claims.