South Dakota Unemployment Claims Drop Again

South Dakota is inching closer to a return of typical unemployment claim numbers.

The latest jobs report from the state show a decline in both first-time and continued unemployment benefits claims, according to Dakota News Now.

For the week ending September 6, the South Dakota Department of Labor processed 536 initial claims, a drop of 100 from last week. In a typical pre-COVID environment, first-time claims should be around 200 to 300.

There was a notable drop in continued unemployment claims, falling 1,500 to 9,272. This represents the number of unemployed workers who remain eligible for benefits after an initial claim.

The Department of Labor has paid out approximately $295.5 million in unemployment claims since March 16.

The national unemployment numbers remain historically high but are showing some improvement. 884,000 workers filed an initial claim last week, a drop of 38,000. However, continued claims rose 93,000 to 13.3 million.

Fox Business cites a Labor Department report showing the U.S. economy added 1.4 million jobs in August. The U.S. unemployment rate has dropped from 10.2% to 8.4%.

In all, over 60 million American workers have filed an initial claim since state governments have forced 'non-essential' businesses to close in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.