When compared to other states, South Dakota has been doing rather well in the face of a changing workforce due to COVID-19 related shutdowns of businesses. Many states have initiated a new round of shutdowns resulting in more people standing for the unemployment line.

In the latest numbers released from the South Dakota Department of Labor, 818 people filed a first-time unemployment claim for the week ending December 5. That's up by about 400 from last week but remains much lower than the thousands of weekly claims the state processed early on in the pandemic.

According to Dakota News Now, continued unemployment claims also saw a rise to 3,847 for the week ending November 28. That's a bump up of 832 from the last report. A continued claim is filed by someone who is still eligible for and receiving benefits past their initial claim.

Speaking of other states, jobless numbers nationwide saw a higher than expected increase. Fox Business reports first-time claims jumped to 853,000. They attribute the increase to a new round of business shutdowns in states with large economies like California amid rising COVID-19 cases.

Continued claims also saw a jump of 230,000 to 5.757 million higher than analyst estimates. Fox Business says this first increase in continued claims in 11 weeks.

Nearly 69 million workers, or about 40% of the nation's workforce, have filed for unemployment benefits since mid-March.

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