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Wednesday, 08 May 2013 |
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The South Dakota Department of Labor reports that the state’s March unemployment rate declined to 4.3% in March. That’s just 0.1% points less than February but represents a breakout from the 4.4% + rates South Dakota has been experiencing over the past year. |
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Monday, 08 April 2013 |
South Dakota’s February unemployment rate continued unchanged from last month and last year at 4.4%. The national unemployment rate declined from 8.3% to 7.7% between February 2012 and February 2013.
Growth in South Dakota’s workforce was very limited from a year ago climbing just 0.2%. That information was reported just last week by the South Dakota Department of Labor.
Also of interest was a report released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis showing South Dakota’s personal income declining by 0.2%. The -0.2% growth rate ranked 50th among all states and was attributable primarily to a plunge in agricultural income due to the drought. According to the report the drop would have been even greater had it not been for crop insurance payments and high commodity prices in 2012’s fourth quarter. This development is especially significant for the South Dakota’s Medicaid program and the annual calculation of FMAP. That calculation is based on a three-year running average of changes in each state’s per capita person income. |
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Wednesday, 27 March 2013 |
January’s unemployment rate was 4.4% -- the same rate as last month and the same rate from one year ago. The numbers present a “good news / bad news” message for the state. On the one hand, South Dakota’s unemployment rate remains well below national norms; but it has failed to return to historical levels of approximately 3%.
And according to another report by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis 2011 per capita income in South Dakota grew at a substantially greater rate than both the national average and the average of states in the northern plans. South Dakota’s per capita income for that year was $44,217 and ranks 12th highest among the 50 states. Again, that presents a “good news / bad news” message for the State. Certainly the growth and ranking are great for the state. But it also means that the State’s FMAP (federal match rate for Medicaid) will continue to decline and if history is any experience, will cost providers much needed inflationary updates for the services they provide. |
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Tuesday, 29 January 2013 |
South Dakota’s unemployment rate for December 2012 continued to hover in that 4.3% - 4.5% range – this time at 4.4%. That’s been the case for the state’s rate for just about all of 2012. While that rate is clearly better than national averages, it is historically high for South Dakota with pre-recession rates ranging between 3.0% and 3.5%.
The fact that the state’s unemployment rate has stabilized is good news for legislators as they prepare revenue estimates for the State Budget. They will likely be relying on January’s numbers in late March to make their final revenue projections. Again, unemployment plays an important role in establishing those projections. |
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