Marcia Hultman

Cabinet Secretary

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South Dakota e-Labor Bulletin

July 2020

Exploring the Motherlode of South Dakota Industry Statistics

If you’re looking for insights into South Dakota industry employment and wages, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program is the motherlode.

The QCEW program collects and tabulates information about workers covered by South Dakota unemployment insurance laws and the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. It includes employees who are paid a wage or salary; it excludes the self-employed and unpaid family workers. About 96 percent of South Dakota's wage and salaried workers are included in the QCEW program. Covered workers are counted at their place of work. A person who works for more than one covered employer is counted at each job.

Recently published on this website was the annual summary of QCEW data, containing a comprehensive tabular, graphic and narrative analysis of 2019 employment and wage data on South Dakota. Below, we will use samples of information from that annual online summary to illustrate the wealth of workforce data available through the QCEW program.

Just some of the pillars of this 2019 summary of employment and wages are:

  Employment data – Number of employees
  Ownership – Data is available for privately owned industries as well as government entities at each of the three levels: federal, state and local.
  Industry detail – Data is published for each of South Dakota’s 3-digit industries as classified in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Learn more about NAICS.
  Historical data set – Annual online summaries are available on this website back to 2004. Quarterly and annual QCEW data are available in the virtual labor market data system back to 2001. Prior data (back to 1980) is available by contacting us. Historical data allows for valuable comparisons over time to identify trends and changes in the labor market.

The table below illustrates the value of each of those pillars. We see employment data by ownership (private ownership and public administration) as well as by industry group, comparing 2019 data to prior-year data.

Average Number of Covered Workers
by Ownership and Supersector
Private Ownership 2018 2019 Percent Change
2018-2019
Natural Resources and Mining 6,830 6,985 2.3%
Construction 22,969 23,609 2.8%
Manufacturing 44,442 44,972 1.2%
Trade, Transportation and Utilities 85,733 85,125 -0.7%
Information 5,589 5,500 -1.6%
Financial Activities 28,739 28,483 -0.9%
Professional and Business Services 32,353 33,118 2.4%
Education and Health Services 67,867 68,913 1.5%
Leisure and Hospitality Services 47,315 47,413 0.2%
Other Services 11,148 11,324 1.6%
Total Private Ownership 352,984 355,442 0.7%
Public Administration
Federal Government 11,270 11,291 0.2%
State Government 14,969 14,933 -0.2%
Local Government 47,693 48,452 1.6%
Total Government 73,932 74,676 1.0%
Statewide Total 426,917 430,118 0.7%
Data subject to revision.
Produced by the Labor Market Information Center, South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 2020.

Another important pillar of the QCEW data is the availability of pay data. The table below shows a good example of this data, again especially valuable because it is available by industry sector and over time.

Annual Pay of Covered Workers
by Ownership and Supersector
Private Ownership 2018 2019 Percent Change
2018-2019
Natural Resources and Mining $42,906 $43,647 1.7%
Construction $48,983 $50,997 4.1%
Manufacturing $49,320 $50,218 1.8%
Trade, Transportation and Utilities $39,650 $40,980 3.4%
Information $49,331 $51,533 4.5%
Financial Activities $60,159 $63,499 5.6%
Professional and Business Services $56,386 $58,618 4.0%
Education and Health Services $50,399 $52,412 4.0%
Leisure and Hospitality Services $16,957 $17,519 3.3%
Other Services $32,876 $34,238 4.1%
Total Private Ownership $43,706 $45,350 3.8%
Public Administration
Federal Government $66,786 $67,528 1.1%
State Government $49,933 $50,869 1.9%
Local Government $36,197 $36,702 1.4%
Total Government $43,641 $44,196 1.3%
Statewide Total $43,695 $45,150 3.3%
Data subject to revision.
Produced by the Labor Market Information Center, South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 2020.

In-depth information is available on each industry sector; simply pan for an industry of interest from our menu page. You'll unearth tables, graphs and narrative analyses focused on that particular industry's performance during 2019, with comparisons to 2018 and earlier data as relevant.

Additionally, the QCEW program is the only employment and wage data set available by size of establishment, another pillar of this powerful data set. Again from the 2019 summary, the bar graph below illustrates the type of data available on the size classes of establishments in South Dakota.

Bar graph comparing employment by establishment size class in 2019.
To truly realize the beauty of this gold mine of industry information for South Dakota, you need to explore cross-sections and data mine for a specific sample of interest. To a large degree, the components identified above as pillars can be “sliced and diced” for specific, valuable nuggets of information. For example, say you want to compare employment levels or pay by employer size class and industry. That’s possible too, as you’ll see in the table below.

Number of Establishments, Workers and Pay
By Establishment Size and By Supersector
2019
Supersector Employer Size Group by Number of Workers
0-9 10-19 20-49 50-99 100-249 250-499 500+
Natural Resources & Mining
Establishments 972 80 47 11 3 0 0
Workers 3,028 1,051 1,340 734 478 0 0
Annual Pay $38,740 $42,771 $45,451 $50,746 $57,878 $0 $0
Construction
Establishments 3,573 325 194 37 19 0 0
Workers 8,609 4,390 5,643 2,515 2,452 0 0
Annual Pay $39,786 $50,144 $57,324 $64,618 $63,349 0 0
Manufacturing
Establishments 618 150 166 80 57 29 11
Workers 1,924 2,055 5,237 5,494 9,360 9,468 11,433
Annual Pay $37,539 $43,598 $50,065 $48,972 $51,249 $52,497 $51,485
Trade, Transportation & Utilities
Establishments 6,271 1,261 672 154 74 24 0
Workers 18,420 16,824 20,203 10,456 11,120 8,102 0
Annual Pay $43,071 $39,436 $44,278 $43,636 $39,706 $29,525 $0
Information
Establishments 522 65 50 10 4 * *
Workers 1,034 890 1,548 643 482 * *
Annual Pay $51,926 $45,296 $48,057 $44,558 $61,442 * *
Financial Activities
Establishments 3,036 260 137 31 26 8 7
Workers 7,328 3,414 3,946 1,987 3,921 2,937 4,950
Annual Pay $54,724 $62,345 $72,410 $72,348 $71,414 $61,795 $61,374
Professional & Business Services
Establishments 5,310 378 228 39 34 8 2
Workers 9,648 5,013 6,792 2,517 4,930 2,658 1,562
Annual Pay $58,125 $49,965 $53,005 $51,487 $56,960 $71,661 $108,294
Education & Health Services
Establishments 2,118 426 322 141 69 19 10
Workers 6,063 5,794 9,752 9,530 10,444 6,091 21,238
Annual Pay $40,309 $39,750 $41,342 $40,903 $47,053 $49,205 $73,127
Leisure & Hospitality Services
Establishments 1,967 667 605 121 32 0 0
Workers 7,227 9,268 17,800 7,827 4,356 0 0
Annual Pay $15,648 $15,511 $17,395 $19,177 $21,772 $0 $0
Other Services
Establishments 2,086 195 53 14 5 0 0
Workers 5,512 2,489 1,523 1,007 794 0 0
Annual Pay $33,912 $34,820 $37,242 $36,344 $26,196 $0 $0
Total Private Ownership
Establishments 26,473 3,807 2,474 638 323 93 31
   Workers 68,792 51,205 73,783 42,709 48,338 30,829 39,786
   Annual Pay $41,943 $38,723 $41,077 $42,230 $47,617 $47,464 $66,652
*Data was suppressed to prevent disclosure of confidential information.
Data subject to revision.
Produced by the Labor Market Information Center, South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 2020.

Another pillar of the QCEW data is the availability of sub-state data. Information is available on each of South Dakota's 66 counties (including both employment and annual pay data), and both the Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

We encourage you to make your own expedition to explore the motherlode of employment and wage data known as the QCEW program. Check out the data available in the 2019 annual summary. Or drill into the virtual system using the instructions and link on our QCEW menu page. You can learn more about the QCEW program in general on our website. If you have questions or would like assistance, please contact us.