Department of Labor and Regulation

Title - Labor Market Information Center

April South Dakota statewide data just released

Note: The following data release includes April 2012 seasonally adjusted statewide labor force and both seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted statewide nonfarm data. The full release of April 2012 labor force and not seasonally adjusted nonfarm wage and salaried worker data for all areas will be on May 25, 2012 with the publication of the South Dakota e-Labor Bulletin. April 2012 not seasonally adjusted data will also be published in the historical data bases of labor force and nonfarm wage and salaried worker data at that time. Seasonally adjusted April 2012 labor force data for the two Metropolitan Statistical Areas will be published on this Web page on May 30, 2012.

Labor Force

Preliminary estimates show the April 2012 South Dakota labor force decreasing over the month, with the level of employed decreasing by 900 (0.2 percent), and the level of unemployed decreasing by 100 (0.5 percent). The unemployment rate remained at 4.3 percent.

Nationally, the unemployment rate for April was little changed at 8.1 percent, as was the number of unemployed persons (12.5 million).

Seasonally Adjusted Labor Force
  April 2012   March 2012
Labor Force Employed Unemployed Rate Labor Force Employed Unemployed Rate
United States 154,365,000 141,865,000 12,500,000 8.1% 154,707,000 142,034,000 12,673,000 8.2%
South Dakota 448,000 428,600 19,300 4.3% 448,800 429,500 19,400 4.3%

South Dakota's April 2012 labor force of 448,000 increased compared to the April 2011 level. The level of unemployed decreased by 2,200 (10.2 percent) to 19,300; the level of employed increased by 4,200 persons (1.0 percent).

Seasonally Adjusted Labor Force
  April 2012   April 2011
Labor Force Employed Unemployed Rate Labor Force Employed Unemployed Rate
United States 154,365,000 141,865,000 12,500,000 8.1% 153,420,000 139,628,000 13,792,000 9.0%
South Dakota 448,000 428,600 19,300 4.3% 445,900 424,400 21,500 4.8%

The unemployment rate represents the number of unemployed as a percent of the labor force. People are classified as unemployed if they do not have jobs, have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks and are currently available for work. People who were not working and were waiting to be recalled to jobs from which they were temporarily laid off are also included as unemployed.

Note: The published unemployment rate presented above may not equal the percentage calculated using the published unemployed and labor force figures presented above due to rounding.

Nonfarm wage & salaried workers

The April 2012 nonfarm worker data is preliminary and subject to revision. Over the month, the seasonally adjusted worker level increased (1,100 workers or 0.3 percent) when comparing the revised March level of 408,000 to the preliminary April level of 409,100.

Over the year, the total nonfarm worker level increased by 2,700 workers (0.7 percent). The largest number of jobs were added within the manufacturing (1,300 workers or 3.4 percent), professional and business services (1,900 workers or 6.7 percent), and educational and health services (1,800 workers or 2.8 percent) industry sectors.

South Dakota
(Seasonally Adjusted)
% Change From
April*
2012		 March
2012		 April
2011		 Last
Month		 Last
Year
Total 409,100 408,000 406,400 0.3 0.7
Mining, Logging & Construction 21,000 21,000 20,700 0.0 1.4
Manufacturing 40,100 39,400 38,800 1.8 3.4
Trade, Transportation & Utilities 82,200 82,300 81,700 -0.1 0.6
  Wholesale Trade 19,600 19,400 18,900 1.0 3.7
  Retail Trade 50,500 50,600 50,100 -0.2 0.8
  Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities 12,100 12,300 12,700 -1.6 -4.7
Information 6,200 6,100 6,400 1.6 -3.1
Financial Activities 28,000 28,100 28,300 -0.4 -1.1
Professional & Business Services 30,200 30,400 28,300 -0.7 6.7
Educational & Health Services 66,900 66,400 65,100 0.8 2.8
Educational Services  7,600 7,600 7,200 0.0 5.6
   Health Care & Social Assistance 59,300 58,800 57,900 0.9 2.4
Leisure & Hospitality 41,300 41,200 43,200 0.2 -4.4
Other Services (except Public Administration) 15,400 15,400 15,500 0.0 -0.6
Government 77,800 77,700 78,400 0.1 -0.8
  Federal Government 11,400 11,400 11,400 0.0 0.0
  State Government 18,600 18,300 18,400 1.6 1.1
  Local Government 47,800 48,000 48,600 -0.4 -1.6

The table above shows the seasonally adjusted data. A table displaying the not seasonally adjusted data can be found below. Visit our technical notes Web page for an explanation of seasonal adjustment.

Over the month, the not seasonally adjusted nonfarm wage and salaried worker level increased by 6,400 workers (1.6 percent) from March 2012 to April 2012. Worker gains are typical for this time period.

Over the year, the not seasonally adjusted total worker level increased by 1,700 workers (0.4 percent). The largest number of jobs were added within the manufacturing (1,200 workers or 3.1 percent), professional and business services (1,700 workers or 5.9 percent), and educational and health services (1,900 workers or 2.9 percent) industry sectors.

South Dakota
(Not Seasonally Adjusted)
% Change From
April
2012*		 March
2012		 April
2011		 Last
Month		 Last
Year
Total 405,100 398,700 403,400 1.6 0.4
Mining, Logging & Construction 19,600 17,500 19,600 12.0 0.0
Manufacturing 39,700 38,900 38,500 2.1 3.1
Trade, Transportation & Utilities 81,300 80,600 80,900 0.9 0.5
  Wholesale Trade 19,400 19,200 18,900 1.0 2.6
  Retail Trade 49,800 49,400 49,400 0.8 0.8
  Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities 12,100 12,000 12,600 0.8 -4.0
Information 6,100 6,100 6,300 0.0 -3.2
Financial Activities 27,800 27,800 28,100 0.0 -1.1
Professional & Business Services 30,300 29,600 28,600 2.4 5.9
Educational & Health Services 67,000 66,600 65,100 0.6 2.9
Educational Services  7,900 7,900 7,400 0.0 6.8
   Health Care & Social Assistance 59,100 58,700 57,700 0.7 2.4
Leisure & Hospitality 39,300 37,800 41,400 4.0 -5.1
Other Services (except Public Administration) 15,300 15,100 15,500 1.3 -1.3
Government 78,700 78,700 79,400 0.0 -0.9
  Federal Government 11,300 11,300 11,500 0.0 -1.7
  State Government 19,100 18,900 18,900 1.1 1.1
  Local Government 48,300 48,500 49,000 -0.4 -1.4

Note: All April 2012 data is preliminary and subject to revision.

A more comprehensive overview of the labor market in April 2012, including substate labor force and nonfarm industry data, will be available May 25 in the South Dakota e-Labor Bulletin published on this website. To view the current e-Labor Bulletin, click on the large "e" on our home page or subscribe to receive an e-mail notice when a new edition is available.

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Overview of the labor market in March (from the April e-Labor Bulletin)

Labor Supply

The number of South Dakotans who would be available to staff a new or expanding business, or South
Dakota's labor supply, was estimated at 68,545 in March 2012. Included in this labor supply are those who currently hold jobs (and would like to change) and those who, for a variety of reasons, do not have jobs.

The following map shows labor supply estimates by county.

South Dakota Labor Supply
March 2012

Map of county labor supply esimates by county. Click anywhere on the map to see a table of related data.

Labor Force

This data is seasonally adjusted.

Preliminary estimates show the March 2012 South Dakota labor force decreasing over the month, with the level of employed decreasing by 700 (0.2 percent), and the level of unemployed increasing by 200 (1.0 percent).

Nationally, the unemployment rate for March was little changed from February at 8.2 percent, as was the number of unemployed persons (12.7 million).

South Dakota's March 2012 labor force of 448,800 increased compared to the March 2011 level. The level of unemployed decreased by 2,600 (11.8 percent) to 19,400; the level of employed increased by 5,200 persons (1.2 percent).

South Dakota Unemployment Rates by County
Not seasonally adjusted
March 2012

Map of unemployment rates by county. Click anywhere on the map to see the related table of data.

Notes about labor force data

The unemployment rate represents the number of unemployed as a percent of the labor force. People are classified as unemployed if they do not have jobs, have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks and are currently available for work. People who were not working and were waiting to be recalled to jobs from which they were temporarily laid off are also included as unemployed.

Labor force estimates for South Dakota are produced by the Labor Market Information Center in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The concepts and definitions underlying the labor force data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the household survey which is the official measure of the labor force for the nation. The statewide estimate of the number of nonfarm jobs is a component of the model used to produce the labor force estimates. Other data used in this model include the number of continued unemployment insurance claims and survey data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) which is specific to the state.

Although state specific data is used in the production of the labor force estimates for South Dakota, the state monthly model estimates are controlled in "real time" to sum to national monthly labor force estimates from the CPS. Therefore, variation in the estimates of the employed and unemployed are somewhat controlled by what is happening nationally. (See methodology.)

South Dakota Nonfarm Wage & Salaried Workers by Industry

This data is not seasonally adjusted.

Over-the-month comparisons

Based on a monthly survey of South Dakota establishments, the preliminary total nonfarm worker level for March 2012 is 398,400. Compared to the revised February 2012 estimate of 396,400, the worker level increased by 2,000 (0.5 percent) over the month. Worker gains are typical for this time period. (See table of related data.)

Within the private industry sectors, the professional and business services industry sector added the most jobs (800 workers or 2.8 percent), followed by leisure and hospitality (600 workers or 1.6 percent).

The mining, logging and construction also added 600 (3.6 percent), a seasonal gain which is well within historical patterns derived from previous February to March employment level changes. Traditionally, seasonal gains within South Dakota nonfarm employment start in February and continue through June, with May being the peak of over-the-month percentage gains.

Other services had the largest over-the-month loss of 700 workers (4.5 percent). This industry includes a variety of establishments which offer an array of services, such as repair and maintenance, personal and laundry services, and private household services such as house cleaning. The majority of losses were centered within the personal and laundry services subsector.

Over-the-year comparisons

Total nonfarm wage and salaried workers increased by 1,600 (0.4 percent) when comparing the March 2012 worker level of 398,400 to the March 2011 level of 396,800.

The professional and business services industry sector added 1,700 workers (6.1 percent). Demand continues from other industries which utilize these services to supply temporary workers as needed to assist with business operations.

Educational and health services added 1,600 workers (2.5 percent). Most of this gain is attributable to growth and expansion within the health care industry.

Leisure and hospitality dropped by 2,100 workers (5.3 percent). The losses within this industry sector were shared by both subsectors within this industry, including the arts, entertainment and recreation and the accommodation and food services subsectors. Losses were likely related to the altered seasonal employment patterns corresponding to the earlier transition of winter into spring this year.

Find nonfarm worker data for areas within South Dakota.

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See more information on the Current Employment Statistics (CES) Program, including definitions and an important notice about the current production of nonfarm wage and salaried statistics.

 


Pamela S. Roberts, Secretary
700 Governors Drive
Pierre, SD 57501-2291
Tel. 605.773.3101
Fax. 605.773.6184

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