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South Dakota e-Labor Bulletin
June 2024
Serving a tasty annual buffet of industry employment and wage data for you to sample
Much like ice cream is a staple treat for many of us in the summertime, we’re again serving a solid annual standard in labor market information. The 2023 Annual Report of data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) just published makes possible a simple yet microscopic look at the latest employment and wage data for South Dakota business and industry. Think of the QCEW as the ice cream base for a sundae, and the way we simplify the details by organizing and offering them in bite-size pieces in the annual report like a buffet of appetizing sundae toppings you can choose from.
South Dakota’s QCEW annual summary focuses on workers covered by South Dakota Unemployment Insurance law and the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. Covered workers include employees who are paid a wage or salary during the year; it excludes the self-employed and unpaid family workers. Wage and salaried workers are covered regardless of type of ownership. Employees working at privately owned businesses and federal, state, and local government agencies are all included.
In 2023, the number of covered wage and salaried workers equaled 96.0% of South Dakota's wage and salaried workers. Covered workers are counted at their place of work. A person who works for more than one covered employer is counted at each job.
To offer a taste test, we’ll share below just a few examples of the breadth and depth of the information available in this annual publication. Check out the 2023 Annual Report for yourself to get the full scoop!
Building our sundae, we’ll begin with the Summary of 2023 Trends, where we learn the number of South Dakota employees covered by unemployment insurance in 2023 was 452,693 workers. This was an increase of 2.1% from 2022.
Nine of the state’s 11 supersector industries showed employment growth during 2023. The Trade, Transportation and Utilities supersector had the most actual employment growth, up 2,583 (2.9%) over 2022. Second in line was Construction, where an additional 2,011 (7.7%) employees were reported in 2023 over 2022 levels. The two supersectors with employment declines during 2023 were Financial Activities (down 186 or 0.7%) and Information (down 94 or 1.8%).
South Dakota’s annual pay in 2023 was $56,067, an increase of 3.7% from 2022. Annual pay reflects total compensation paid to covered workers in the form of wages, salaries, bonuses, commissions, and overtime pay during the year. Annual pay is calculated by dividing total payroll by the average number of workers. Federal government workers had state’s highest annual pay at $81,594 in 2023. The Leisure and Hospitality supersector had the lowest annual pay of $22,805 in 2023. Annual pay is affected by the number of hours worked and the rate of pay. Full-time workers normally have higher annual pay than part-time workers do. Many industries with lower annual pay have a sizable percentage of part-time jobs, including Leisure and Hospitality industries. Industry-specific annual pay is determined by the mix of full-time and part-time workers and high-paying and low-paying jobs.
But wait; there are more options on our sundae bar—more industry detail, that is. In fact, each year in the QCEW annual report, we delve deeply into each of South Dakota’s industry supersectors and its respective sectors—providing narrative analysis of how the industry faired during the year in terms of number of establishments, employment, and pay. Tables of all available data and line graphs comparing employment levels by month over the last two years complement the narrative.
The QCEW is the only source of data we have available on the size of South Dakota establishments. (Think of the size data as the cherry on top of the sundae.) During 2023, the state’s smallest establishments (0-9 workers) accounted by far for the majority (80.4%) of all businesses. The distribution of employees by establishment size shows a different picture. Those smallest establishments employed only 19.9% of the covered workers in South Dakota in 2023. The annual report also includes size of establishment data (including number of establishments, employment levels and annual pay data) by major industry sector.
Geographic detail is another place where QCEW data shines, with employment and pay data available by county sprinkled into the sundae bar. Nearly three-quarters of counties (47 or 71%) of the counties showed worker growth from 2022 to 2023. The highest percentage gains occurred in Clark, Ziebach, and Miner counties. The largest absolute gains emerged in Minnehaha, Pennington, and Lincoln counties.
Decreases in the number of covered workers occurred in 26% (17) of the counties in South Dakota. The greatest percentage decreases occurred in Jerauld, Oglala Lakota, and Harding counties. The largest absolute losses happened in Oglala Lakota, Jerauld, and Brule counties. Jones County remained unchanged.
On the average annual pay front, most South Dakota counties experienced increases in 2023. The highest percentage gains occurred in Clark, Mellette, and Hand counties. The largest actual numeric gains occurred in Clark, Hand, and Campbell counties. The county with the highest annual pay for 2023 was Union County at $70,969.
Additional county data available through the QCEW program is number of establishments by employer size class.
Even greater employment and pay detail is available for the state’s two Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), Rapid City and Sioux Falls. (Dare we dream of a sundae made from our favorite flavored ice cream plus favorite toppings?) The number of establishments, employment, and pay data are broken out by industry supersector and sector. For example, we can learn the Rapid City MSA had 17 establishments in the Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction sector in 2023; they employed 131 workers, and their pay averaged $67,362. Data for the Sioux Falls MSA shows there were 992 establishments in the Health Care and Social Assistance sector, employing 32,320 workers whose pay averaged $71,687.
Further extending our sundae buffet, for the two MSAs, the establishment, employment, and pay data by industry supersector and sector is even further stratified by employer size group.
Visit the 2023 QCEW Annual Report to see what appetizing and fulfilling LMI sundae masterpiece you can create. Heck, go all out and make it a banana split. Unlike a real ice cream treat, selecting all the data you want won't cost you anything in dollars or calories.
Please contact us with any questions or suggestions for future QCEW annual reports.
