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Friday, Jan. 2, 2026

Does SD have the lowest unemployment rate in the country?

Michael Klinski, South Dakota News Watch
yes

South Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the country as of September 2025 data.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, South Dakota’s unemployment rate is 2%, ahead of Hawaii (2.5%), Vermont (2.5%) and North Dakota (2.6%).

South Dakota’s unemployment rate was low even before the COVID-19 pandemic – with a rate of 2.5% in February 2020. The rate has stayed in the area of 2% since a brief COVID-era spike..

Behind the positive headlines, however, some job seekers are finding it difficult to find work, including recent college graduates.

Nationwide, 4.59% of college graduates aged 23 to 27 are experiencing unemployment in 2025, up from 3.2% six years earlier. 

David Chicoine, former president of South Dakota State University, told News Watch in 2024 that 2% unemployment rate can mean the state doesn’t have enough workers to take advantage of new opportunities and sustain growth.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network.

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