Gov. Kristi Noem touted South Dakota’s shrinking unemployment rate after she refused to lock the state down amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“South Dakota’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.8% in August. Our economy is quickly getting back to normal, and the future is very bright,” Noem tweeted Thursday morning.
NEWS: South Dakota’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.8% in August. Our economy is quickly getting back to normal, and the future is very bright.
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) September 17, 2020
“Preliminary estimates show South Dakota’s unemployment rate decreased 1.6% to 4.8% in August 2020. The labor force decreased over the month by 6,800 workers (1.5%) to 459,400 workers. The level of unemployed decreased by 8,000 (26.7%) to 22,000 persons unemployed,” the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation reported.
The unemployment rate for the United States in August was 8.4%. The South Dakota unemployment rate in July sat at 6.4%, according to government data.
The South Dakota governor made waves earlier this year when she refused to implement lockdown measures at the height of the pandemic.
“Here in South Dakota, because we didn’t shut down our state, the recovery story is far stronger. According to the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, South Dakota had the fewest low-income job losses of any state in our region, and as of the end of June, we’d already recovered nearly all of those losses. Our weekly initial unemployment claims continue to drop,” Noem said in a statement earlier this month.
Noem, a former small-business owner, said she understands the struggle business owners faced during the pandemic and refused to shut down for six months because “our business would not have made it.”
“These businesses are more than just storefronts — they’re people’s livelihoods. They put food on the table, not only for small business owners, but also for their employees. Without businesses to employ these workers, states that have been shut down will struggle to recover even after they reopen,” she added.
