The South Dakota economy shows strong recovery post-pandemic, yet indicators suggest potential slowdowns. Key concerns include falling farm incomes, lower sales tax collections, and a job market mismatch with 30,000 openings and 10,000 unemployed. Despite these challenges, experts don’t foresee immediate threats, anticipating continued growth under favorable policies. Continue reading Warning signs found in new South Dakota economic data
Gov. Kristi Noem leveled accusations against Native American parents and political leaders Wednesday while saying she wants to help Native American students succeed.
She made the comments during a town hall meeting in Mitchell, where she signed two education bills into law, and at a later town hall in Winner.
“We’ve got some tribal leaders that I believe are personally benefitting from the cartels being here, and that’s why they attack me every day,” she said. Continue reading Noem slings accusations about tribes while signing education bills
Preliminary estimates show South Dakota’s unemployment rate increased from 0.1 percent to 2.0 percent in October 2023. The labor force increased over the month by 800 workers (0.2 percent) to 484,700 workers. The level of unemployment increased by 500 (5.3 percent) to 9,900 workers.
South Dakota’s October 2023 labor force of 484,700 increased compared to the October 2022 level of 475,000. The level of employed increased by 10,400 (2.2 percent); the level of unemployed decreased by 600 persons (5.7 percent). The unemployment rate decreased 0.2 percent to 2.0 percent.
The most recent year we have records for is 2021, for which data was released on Dec. 12, 2022. That census of wages and income shows that the median household income in the U.S. was $69,717, while the median household income in South Dakota was $66,8443 (95.88 percent of the national median).
But when you look at the salaries people are getting paid to be teachers (we still are one of the worst states in terms of teacher pay in the nation), natural resources and mining, construction, trades, transportation and utilities, leisure and hospitality services (shame on you tourism industry), and even local, state, and federal government a person has to wonder why we’re paying our workers such low wages? Continue reading Employment on the rise, wages miss the mark In S.D.
The Siouxland Observer 