South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has refused expanded federal payments for its unemployed residents, saying that its workers are being rehired even though its unemployment rate has more than doubled in four months, the Washington Post reports.
Noem said in a statement, “My administration is very grateful for the additional flexibility that this effort would have provided, but South Dakota is in the fortunate position of not needing to accept it.”
South Dakota started the year with a 3.4% unemployment rate; it recorded a 7.2% rate in June, after peaking at 10.9% in April. Thirty-three thousand South Dakotans are unemployed, with approximately 20,000 taking state unemployment benefits.
The difference between the unemployed rate and the number taking unemployment insurance may be due to the difficulty in obtaining unemployment benefits in the state, a situation Noem apparently ignored.
Additionally, if you’re long-term unemployed or self-employed and lost income–such as a contractor who cannot find work–the overall unemployment rate is meaningless.