Counties with the highest unemployment in South Dakota

2024 ended on a high note, with the unemployment rate relatively unchanged at 4.1%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Jan. 10.

Unemployment rates were higher in November than the prior year in 308 of 389 metro areas, though they dropped in 60 areas and remained unchanged in 21 areas, the BLS reported.

The lion's share of job growth remained in government, social assistance, and health care, with openings in nursing, residential care facilities, and home health care leading employment in the latter sector.

To get a glimpse of regional variations in employment, Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest unemployment rates in South Dakota, using BLS data. Counties are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in November 2024, with initial ties broken by the number of unemployed people within that county, though some ties may remain. County-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

Key takeaways: Biden's economic legacy, inauguration day, and immigration's impact on jobs

The latest BLS report highlights the final job figures under the Biden administration, giving the outgoing president a win during his final weeks in office. President Biden highlighted the creation of 16.6 million jobs during his term in a Jan. 11 statement.

"Although I inherited the worst economic crisis in decades with unemployment above 6% when I took office, we've had the lowest average unemployment rate of any administration in 50 years with unemployment at 4.1% as I leave," he said.

Incoming President-elect Donald Trump will inherit a strong economy, with forecasts tracking ongoing growth into 2025. However, uncertainty remains. Trump's proposed tariffs on foreign goods coupled with a sweeping deportation operation may have a significant impact on the economy, accelerating inflation and tamping down job growth, some experts forecast.

"I worry that immigration will be significantly lower than the long-term average of 1.0 million. I worry that tariffs will be universal and lead to a trade war. That would not be good for the economy and earnings," Hugh Johnson, chairman emeritus at Graypoint, told U.S. News.

What does all this mean for middle-class Americans? The unemployment rate is projected to remain stable, only creeping up to 4.3%, according to the Federal Reserve's latest Summary of Economic Projections. Experts suggest paying down mortgages, revisiting investment strategies, and paying attention to taxes before rates possibly shift as Inauguration Day draws close.

The big story: California wildfires still rage

Although Goldman predicts only a "modest drag" on U.S. jobs due to the devastating California wildfires, the situation is still ongoing. Small businesses destroyed by the fires will impact local jobs; in the wake of the fires, a surge in construction and the need for labor and materials might lead to localized shortages and rising costs, impacting several industries.

However, amid political and environmental uncertainty, it's unclear which way the winds will blow. Americans will have to simply wait for the smoke to clear.

To get a better idea of your community's current economy, read on to see the counties with the highest unemployment in South Dakota.

#50. Lincoln County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 38,635 people (566 unemployed)

#49. Sully County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 816 people (13 unemployed)

#47. Aurora County (tie)

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Down 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 1,466 people (23 unemployed)

#47. Perkins County (tie)

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,419 people (23 unemployed)

#45. Clark County (tie)

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,987 people (32 unemployed)

#45. Edmunds County (tie)

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,001 people (32 unemployed)

#44. Deuel County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,368 people (39 unemployed)

#42. Day County (tie)

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,680 people (43 unemployed)

#42. Kingsbury County (tie)

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,734 people (43 unemployed)

#41. Bon Homme County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,808 people (46 unemployed)

#40. McCook County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 3,180 people (50 unemployed)

#39. Moody County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,117 people (64 unemployed)

#38. Turner County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,860 people (79 unemployed)

#37. Butte County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,482 people (89 unemployed)

#36. Lake County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,907 people (109 unemployed)

#35. Meade County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 14,999 people (246 unemployed)

#34. Minnehaha County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 119,915 people (1,866 unemployed)

#33. Jerauld County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.7%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,141 people (19 unemployed)

#32. Sanborn County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.7%
--- 1-month change: No change
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,220 people (21 unemployed)

#31. Spink County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.7%
--- 1-month change: No change
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,059 people (52 unemployed)

#30. Brown County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.7%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 20,292 people (351 unemployed)

#29. Pennington County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.7%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 61,969 people (1,071 unemployed)

#28. Faulk County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.8%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,096 people (20 unemployed)

#27. Fall River County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.8%
--- 1-month change: Down 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,934 people (54 unemployed)

#26. Grant County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.8%
--- 1-month change: No change
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 4,353 people (77 unemployed)

#25. Union County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.8%
--- 1-month change: No change
--- 1-year change: Down 0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,835 people (160 unemployed)

#24. Lawrence County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.8%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 14,803 people (262 unemployed)

#23. Lyman County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.9%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,672 people (32 unemployed)

#22. Charles Mix County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.9%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,905 people (73 unemployed)

#21. Brookings County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 1.9%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 20,183 people (378 unemployed)

#20. Harding County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.0%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 713 people (14 unemployed)

#19. Hanson County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.0%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,800 people (36 unemployed)

#18. Clay County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.0%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,786 people (156 unemployed)

#17. Roberts County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.1%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,807 people (102 unemployed)

#16. Jones County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.2%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 495 people (11 unemployed)

#15. Potter County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.2%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,047 people (23 unemployed)

#14. Miner County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.3%
--- 1-month change: Down 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,270 people (29 unemployed)

#13. Walworth County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.3%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,046 people (47 unemployed)

#12. McPherson County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 971 people (23 unemployed)

#11. Custer County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,329 people (103 unemployed)

#10. Campbell County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 763 people (19 unemployed)

#9. Corson County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.6%
--- 1-month change: No change
--- 1-year change: Down 0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,305 people (34 unemployed)

#8. Jackson County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.7%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,164 people (32 unemployed)

#7. Ziebach County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.8%
--- 1-month change: No change
--- 1-year change: Down 2.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 967 people (27 unemployed)

#6. Mellette County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.2%
--- 1-month change: Down 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 751 people (24 unemployed)

#5. Todd County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,074 people (103 unemployed)

#4. Bennett County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,088 people (39 unemployed)

#3. Dewey County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.0%
--- 1-month change: Down 1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 1.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,321 people (93 unemployed)

#2. Buffalo County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.0%
--- 1-month change: Up 1.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 726 people (36 unemployed)

#1. Oglala Lakota County

- November unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.4%
--- 1-month change: Down 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 1.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,528 people (190 unemployed)

This story features data reporting by Elena Cox, writing by Alizah Salario, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states.