SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Before the coronavirus pandemic the state of South Dakota appeared to be able to afford to pay for historic new unemployment claims caused by an economic downturn, according to reports from the Federal Reserve in Minneapolis and the U.S. Department of Labor.
But the state has reached historic new unemployment levels that are even higher than the Great Recession. Factors used to evaluate the financial health of the state’s unemployment trust fund were based on 20-year historic unemployment rates that were far below those of the past several weeks.
The state’s trust fund is used to pay the state’s portion of unemployment claims.