New jobless claims remain steady in South Dakota

The number of new jobless claims in South Dakota remained steady for the second consecutive week, but the state's labor leader said they're expected to continue to fluctuate.

A total of 753 initial weekly unemployment claims were filed with the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation during the week of July 19-25, the department announced on Thursday. 

That's a decrease of 19 claims from 772 new claims during the week of July 12-18, according to the department. 

More:Work search required for South Dakota unemployment benefits beginning Aug. 1

South Dakotans with continued unemployment claims, which represents the number of workers who have been unemployed for more than one week, decreased by 2,122 to 16,600 during the week of July 5-11, according to the department.

Labor and Regulation Secretary Marcia Hultman said they expect both initial and ongoing jobless claims to continue to fluctuate week to week. 

"Some employers are still doing rolling furloughs or temporary bulk layoffs. Any changes, up or down, week to week are not a significant indicator of the overall economy," she said in a statement.

Nationwide, there were 1.4 million initial weekly unemployment claims last week, which was an increase of 12,000 from the prior week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

South Dakota paid $2.8 million in state unemployment benefits, $9.7 million in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, $751,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and $96,000 in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits last week, according to the department. South Dakota's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund balance was $118.9 million on July 26.

Statewide, job openings are down 1.3% since a peak on March 19. There's been an 8.8% decline in job openings in the Sioux Falls area and a 4.8% decline in job openings in the Rapid City area since a peak in job openings on March 19, the state Bureau of Finance and Management announced on Monday.