The South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation processed 94 fewer initial unemployment claims than last week. 391 people sought first-time jobless benefits for the week ending October 24, 2020, according to Dakota News Now.

In a pre-pandemic world, the state typically processes 200 to 300 weekly claims. During the early weeks of COVID-19 business shutdowns in mid-March, the state was processing several thousand weekly claims.

The other jobless number to watch is continued claims or the number of workers who are eligible for and continue to receive payments after their initial claim. 4,375 continued claims were logged for the week ending October 17, a slight increase of 55.

Dakota News Now reports that the state has paid a total of $311.7 million in benefits since March 16.

The national jobless numbers came in better than analysts expected, falling to 751,000 for the week ending October 24. However, according to Fox Business, that number is still about 4-times higher than the typical weekly average.

Fox Business reports the number of continued claims also dropped by over 709,000 to 7.75 million from the prior week. Fox Business adds that there are nearly 10.7 million more Americans out of work now than in February.

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