South Dakota Almost Has The Country’s Best Unemployment Rate

South Dakota is riding a recovery wave after COVID-19 related shutdowns of 'non-essential' businesses had decimated the economy of the state and the nation.

In South Dakota, we experienced adverse effects including the highest ever number of weekly initial unemployment claims and the permanent closure of many businesses. But the state is doing its best to bounce back and people are returning to work.

However, with a resurgence of COVID cases in the state, the recovery could be stalled in the future if cities decide to shut down businesses again.

The consumer website WalletHub is back with the top states whose September Unemployment rates bounced back the most. According to their report, South Dakota has the second-best September unemployment rate recovery in the country.

The state's official unemployment rate in September was 3.8%, tied with North Dakota for the second best. Nebraska is the best at 3.3%. Vermont and Iowa round out the top five with rates of 4.1% and 4.3% respectively.

The bottom five states are Illinois at 9.8%, Rhode Island 10.1%, California 10.8%, Nevada 12.6%, and Hawaii is worst at 15.3%.

Nationally, the official numbers from the U.S. Department of Labor show that the economy added 661,000 jobs in September. The published national unemployment rate fell to 7.9% after peaking at 14.7%. However, that rate doesn't include people whose benefits have either run out or have stopped looking for work altogether.