The South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation reports a big gap between the number of job openings and available workers. There were about 41,000 open jobs in June but only about 16,000 unemployed people. The unemployment rate was 2.9 percent.
Wendy Bobbe owns two candy stores in the Black Hills. She recently had seven job interviews scheduled but no one showed up. She says some of the restaurants in her hometown face challenges.
“There are some restaurants in Hill City I know that have been struggling bigger than life. I mean Desperados for instance is open very limited hours, the café is open very limited hours, Mangiamo’s has posted that they’ve closed several days to give their staff a break.”
Most of the state’s new hires are in the leisure and hospitality industry. That sector saw stronger-than-average growth from May to June. More than half of that industry’s new jobs are in the Black Hills area.