Skip to content

South Dakota Job Growth for Q1+Q2 2015 Third Best in Nation

Governing ranks states by job growth for the first half of 2015. South Dakota is actually rocking out, with 2.0% job growth (8,400 new jobs) over the first six months of this year. That’s third place! Only Nevada and Utah are doing better, with 2.1% job growth.

Hmm… but didn’t we pass a minimum wage increase that was supposed to kill job growth?

Minnesota’s first-half job growth is less hot, just 0.8%. But remember, in raw numbers, that’s 23,100 new jobs… and odds are those jobs will pay more in Minnesota than in South Dakota (Minnesota’s annual mean wage is 29.5% higher than South Dakota’s).

North Dakota is one of only six states that lost jobs over the last six months, with the oil-price collapse causing a net loss of 6,600 jobs, 1.4% of where North Dakota stood at the end of 2014.

28 Comments

  1. mike from iowa

    Must be that higher minimum wage thingy kicking in. Good thing wingnuts opposed so they could be made fools of. :)

  2. mike from iowa

    Wisconsin is near the bottom,again. Wonder how Walker will spin that as a positive?

  3. Mr. Sol

    It should be noted that both States with higher job growth have lower minimum wage requirements than South Dakota.

  4. Don Coyote

    Correlation does not imply causation.

    Carry on

  5. Deb Geelsdottir

    My local discount grocery store (Aldi’s) has a sign up saying they are hiring checkout cashiers. The Starting Wage is $13. It’s not a union store, but they want good workers who will stay with the store and provide good service.

    How does that compare to SD?

  6. jerry

    New York is going to 15 bucks an hour Deb. Here in South Dakota, we are taught that 15 bucks an hour means that you are upper middle class.

  7. CLCJM

    While many factors go into job growth as seen by North Dakota’s job losses, it would appear that the increase in SD’s minimum wage did not bring the destruction of our economy that business owners would have had us believe. And the youth minimum wage wasn’t and isn’t causing the lay offs of younger workers as predicted, either! My 14 year old grandson started his first job in May and has been getting all the hours he wants and has even been asked to come in to cover when they’re short. He’s even been able to request more hours when he wanted to earn more money!

    I knew that the business owners wouldn’t cut workers and not stock shelves or serve customers! That would be so counter-productive that it is absurd to even suggest!

  8. Jeff Barth

    Walmart and McDonalds are paying more than $10 in Sioux Falls now. I recently suggested that the City use its Charter status to make it a $10 per hour minimum within the municipality. That idea failed to gain any support even among “Democrats”.

    People cannot support themselves at the $8.50 per hour rate and even at $10 it is tough. That means that responsible businesses and taxpayers pay the rent, pay the medical care, subsidize the food for those workers. We use tax money and charitable contributions to keep these workers alive so they can continue to enrich their “owners”.

    Makes me sad.

  9. Rorschach

    “What’s in your wallet?” Unemployment benefits, apparently. Capital One is closing up and leaving SD and 750 employees behind.

  10. Roger Elgersma

    So, when minimum wage goes up people have more to spend and the stores need more stock boys putting more goods on the shelf. Maybe those states with even lower minimum wage could do even better as well.
    Has anyone looked at how much less welfare costs are in South Dakota since the minimum wage went up. Oh My! could higher wages save tax dollars. Now conservatives are in a catch 22 on wages for those peons working for them.

  11. Jeff Barth

    Today Taco John’s is offering $10 to start.

  12. Rorschach

    I wonder how much money the state and other public entities put on the table to get Capital One here?

  13. Owen

    I wonder Jenny what Daugaard will say about this? You’re right. The republicans will spin this some how.

  14. Daniel Buresh

    Jenny,
    Is it any different than Cory spinning the job growth to imply that the cause was the min wage increase?

    Rorschach,
    The amount of money the state has made is way more than they have ever given. The initial investment is probably a drop in the bucket compared to the financial impact this company has had over the past how many years.

  15. mike from iowa

    Job growth was spurred by Obama invading Texas in conjunction with a full moon where wingnut’s wool got pulled over their faces because of science.

  16. grudznick

    Mr. Buresh, who is sometimes wrong, is in this case right. Mr. H spins things. He did not factor in the lower minimum wage for minors during this period or the whiplash effect. I will wait and see what the economists say. The real economists.

  17. grudznick

    Mr. Barth, who walks downhill well, points out that Taco Johns and other places don’t even care about the minimum wage. The market determines, says Mr. Barth.

  18. Jeff Barth

    grud is right.
    My political career has been pedestrian… at best.

  19. jerry

    $20,800.00 per year gross is what 10 bucks and hour will bring home. Deduct taxes, and you bring home about 17 K if you work 52 weeks a year. Take out the rent, utilities, health insurance, the ole 55, and you don’t have a lot for the food, clothes and much else. Toss a kid or two in the mix and you cannot make a living wage. The problem we see is that our workers are not educated enough to understand the facts of the economic plight they are in. So then they go to the pay day lenders to help them make it through the night. Vicious circle Mr. Barth, vicious circle. Thanks for doing what you can, it really is uphill.

  20. Jenny

    We know this “free market” story as it has been a ruthless business move in Corporate America for 25 years. Capital One will begin outsourcing its customer center call service jobs to places like India and the Phillippines.
    I really doubt a few pennies above minimum wage increase law had much to do with this, folks.

  21. Rorschach

    According to KELO, Capital One is also closing a call center in Oregon and laying off technology workers in Virginia.

    http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/capital-one-blames-worker-shortage-for-closure/?id=182829

    Either the company doesn’t need call center workers and technology workers, or they’re ditching American jobs and moving to India or some such place for cheap, cheap labor.

    “What’s in your wallet?” For some it’s unemployment benefits. For others it’s rupees.

  22. Rorschach

    The next question is:

    When will the rest of our call center jobs in SD be outsourced to the Philippines?

  23. mike from iowa

    By real economists,Grudz,would you be speaking about wingnuts who have tried to derail the US economy for six years and all of a sudden in January tried to take credit for Obama’s successes?

  24. Jeff Barth

    Capital One stock down 12% today.

  25. mike from iowa

    Joopster,Rounds and Benda had multiple contacts in the Phillippines,did they not? Coincident?

  26. Deb Geelsdottir

    “What’s in your wallet?” For some it’s unemployment benefits. For others it’s rupees.

    Oh Rorschach, that is priceless. Wish it weren’t true.

Comments are closed.