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South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation
123 W. Missouri Ave.
Pierre, SD 57501
For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 21, 2020
Media Contact: Dawn Dovre, 605-773-3101
Unemployment Initial Weekly Claims Decrease
PIERRE, S.D. – During the week of May 10 through May 16, a total of 3,806 initial weekly claims for unemployment benefits were processed by the Department of Labor and Regulation. This is a decrease of 1,463 claims from the prior week’s total of 5,269.
A total of $4.7 million was paid out in state benefits, in addition to $13.7 million paid out in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits. The Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund balance May 17 was $99.3 million.
The latest number of continued claims is 23,388 for the week ending May 2. This indicates the number of unemployed workers eligible for and receiving benefits after their initial claim.
“We have been seeing increased numbers of claimants not completing the weekly request for benefit payment,” said state Labor and Regulation Secretary Marcia Hultman. “Please be sure to answer all questions correctly and hit ‘submit.’”
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NOTE: DLR will send out weekly news release updates on new unemployment claims every Thursday after the U.S. Department of Labor publishes the official release at 8:30 a.m. EDT. View at https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims_arch.asp.