Definitions

Click on a letter below to see definitions entries beginning with that letter.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Annual Pay

Annual pay of workers covered by unemployment insurance laws, which is derived by dividing the total pay of all covered workers by the average monthly number of covered workers. Covered employment and pay are reported by all covered employers each quarter. Annual pay data is developed by the South Dakota Department of Labor. Click here for technical notes.

Benchmarking

Once a year estimates published as "preliminary" and "subject to revision" (such as nonfarm wage and salaried worker levels or labor force data) have to be benchmarked (or revised) using data from other sources that were not available at the time of estimation, such as unemployment insurance tax records and results of surveys conducted on employers not covered by unemployment insurance. The benchmarking sources show actual employment counts and are used to revise estimated data. Revised estimates are then published, replacing all previously published  data.

Career Center and Unemployment Insurance Activities Data (Published in the South Dakota Labor Bulletin.) 

The Career Center and Unemployment Insurance Activities data are taken from South Dakota employment service (South Dakota Career Centers) and state unemployment insurance program reports. The SD Career Center program data are reported on a rolling four-quarter basis, and the UI program data are monthly totals. The terms are defined as follows:

A. Job Seekers - any individual who has registered or been active (received a service) at a Career Center or through the online job bank during the stated reporting period.

B. Entered Employments - Of those job seekers who are not employed as of the date of first service, the number who are employed in the first quarter after the date of last service.

C. Job Openings Received - the number of new job openings received from employers by Career Centers during the stated reporting period.

D. Initial Claims - the total number of first claims for regular state unemployment compensation.

E. Weeks Claimed - the total number of continued weeks claimed for regular state unemployment compensation.

F. Amount of Benefit Payments - the total amount of money paid to claimants for regular state unemployment compensation.

G. Unemployment Trust Fund Balance - the month-ending balance for the fund to which all required unemployment insurance taxes are paid and from which all benefits to claimants are paid.

Covered Workers

Workers covered by South Dakota Unemployment Insurance laws. Employers are required to report monthly employment and quarterly payrolls. The reported data is used in the covered worker and pay program conducted by the Labor Market Information Center in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine number of workers and annual pay by industry group. Click here for technical notes.

Current Employment Statistics

The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program is a federal-state cooperative program between the Labor Market InformationCenter and the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor that produces estimated and historical time series data on employment, hours and earnings for multiple types of industries. Click here for more information, including definitions.

Employed

People residing in a specific area who are 16 years of age and older and who have a job.  A more technical definition is the number of people who, during the calendar week including the 12th day of each month, did any work at all as paid employees or in their own business, profession, or on their own farm, or who worked 15 hours or more as an unpaid worker in a family-operated enterprise.  This employed estimate also includes all those who did not work but had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent due to illness, bad weather, vacation, labor-management dispute or various personal reasons. The resident employed is calculated by the South Dakota Department of Labor in cooperation with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Click here for technical notes.

Establishments

An economic unit, generally at a single physical location, where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed.  (For example: a factory, store, hotel, farm, bank or sales office.)

Labor Force

Labor Supply

Labor supply can be defined as the number of persons who would be available to staff a new or expanding business in an area. Labor supply can be categorized into two groups: those who currently hold jobs (and would like to change) and those who, for a variety of reasons, do not have jobs. It includes workers who live in the area and also workers who would commute into the area to work. Labor supply data is developed by the South Dakota Department of Labor. Click here for technical notes.

Manufacturing Production Worker Hours and Earnings Data (Published in the South Dakota e-Labor Bulletin.)

Hours and earnings data are derived from employer reports of payrolls and hours for production and related workers in the manufacturing industry. The data cover full and part-time employees who worked during or received pay for the payroll period that includes the 12th of the month. The earnings figures are "gross" figures. They may be higher than employee wages rates since they reflect premium pay for shift differentials and overtime work. The hours figures relate to the hours for which pay was received; this is different from scheduled or standard work hours. Hours and earnings data are developed by the South Dakota Department of Labor in cooperation with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Production workers

Are nonfarm wage and salaried workers involved directly in the production of goods or in the provision of services. Includes all types of workers except those who major responsibility is to supervise, plan or direct the work of others. Working supervisors and group leaders who may be "in charge" of a group of employees, but whose supervisory functions are only incidental to their regular work, are included as production workers. Production worker estimates are developed by the South Dakota Department of Labor in cooperation with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

Average Hourly Earnings

Average earnings, on an hourly basis, of nonfarm wage and salaried production workers. They are gross figures and reflect not only changes in basic hourly and incentive wage rates but also such variable factors as premium pay for over-time and late-shift work and changes in output of workers paid on an incentive plan. They also reflect shifts in the number of employees between relatively high-paid and low-paid work and changes in workers' earnings in individual establishments. Averages for groups and divisions further reflect differences in average hourly earnings for individual industries. Average hourly earnings are derived from a sample of employers who report payrolls and hours for production workers each month. Average hourly earnings data are produced by the Labor Market Information Center in cooperation with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Annual Weekly Hours

The average number of hours worked, on a weekly basis, by nonfarm wage and salaried production workers. The information relates to the average hours for which pay was received and is different from standard or scheduled hours. Factors such as unpaid absenteeism, labor turnover, part-time work and stoppages cause average weekly hours to be lower than scheduled hours of work for an establishment. Group averages further reflect changes in the work week among component industries. Average weekly hours are derived from a sample of employers who report payrolls and hours for production workers each month. Annual weekly hours data are produced by the Labor Market Information Center in cooperation with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Areas qualifying as a Metropolitan Statistical Area according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must have at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting ties.

Rapid City MSA - Pennington & Meade counties

Sioux Falls MSA - Lincoln, Minnehaha, McCook & Turner counties

Additionally, Union County of South Dakota is part of the Sioux City MSA, which also includes Dixon-Dakota County of Nebraska and Woodbury County of Iowa. Data for the Sioux City MSA will be published by the Iowa Workforce Information Network.

Click here for technical notes.

Micropolitan Statistical Area (MiSA)

Areas qualifying as a Micropolitan Statistical Area according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must have at least one urban cluster of at least 10,000 but less than 50,000 population, plus adjacent territory with a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting ties.

Aberdeen MiSA - Brown & Edmunds counties

Brookings MiSA - Brookings County

Huron MiSA - Beadle County

Mitchell MiSA - Davison & Hanson counties

Pierre MiSA - Hughes & Stanley counties

Spearfish MiSA - Lawrence County

Vermillion MiSA - Clay County

Watertown MiSA - Codington & Hamlin counties

Yankton MiSA - Yankton County

Click here for technical notes.

NAICS

North American Industry Classification System, the production-oriented or supply-based  framework that groups establishments into industries according to similarity in the processes used to produce goods or services. Click here for the online NAICS manual.

National Economic Indicators (Published in the South Dakota Labor Bulletin.)

Bank Prime Loan Rate

The rate posted by a majority of top 25 (by assets in domestic offices) insured U.S.-chartered commercial banks. Prime is one of several base rates used by banks to price short-term business loans. Source:  Federal Reserve Board.

Consumer Price Index

Both the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) are published on the Labor Market Information Center website. The consumer price index is based on a national survey conducted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics that measures the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services, chosen to be representative of goods and services purchased by American families for day-to-day living. The CPI is the most commonly used measure of the rate of inflation. The CPI reflects spending patterns for each of two population groups: all urban consumers and urban wage earners and clerical workers. The all urban consumers group represents about 87 percent of the total US population. It is based on the expenditures of almost all residents of urban or metropolitan areas, including professionals, the self-employed, the poor, the unemployed and retired persons as well as urban wage earners and clerical workers. Not included in the CPI are the spending patterns of persons living in rural nonmetropolitan areas, farm families, persons in the Armed Forces, and those in institutions, such as prisons and mental hospitals. The CPI-W is based on the expenditures of households included in the CPI-U definition that also meet two requirements: More than one-half of the household's income must come from clerical or wage occupations and at least one of the household's earners must have been employed for at least 37 weeks during the previous 12 months. The CPI-W's population represents about 32 percent of the total US population and is a subset, or part, of the CPI-U's population.
1982-84 = 100.

Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator

Nonfarm Payroll Employment

Published in terms of millions of workers. Not seasonally adjusted. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Privately Owned Housing Starts

Estimate of privately-owned housing starts, including units in residential structures being totally rebuilt on an existing foundation. (The start of construction is when excavation begins for the footings or foundation of a building.) Seasonally adjusted rates. Published in thousands of units. Source: US Census Bureau.

Nonfarm Wage & Salaried Workers

Nonfarm Wage & Salaried Workers estimates include all nonfarm full-time and part-time wage earners but exclude the self-employed and unpaid family workers. Persons holding more than one job are counted in each establishment in which they work. Statewide and MSA Nonfarm Wage & Salaried Workers estimates are developed by the South Dakota Department of Labor in cooperation with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. County Nonfarm Wage and Salaried Worker estimates are developed by the South Dakota Department of Labor. Click here for technical notes.

Per Capita Personal Income

The personal income of the residents of a state divided by the July 1 resident population of the state. (See the definition of personal income below.) Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Personal Income

Income received by persons from all sources. It includes income received from participation in production as well as from government and business transfer payments. It is the sum of compensation of employees (received), supplements to wages and salaries, proprietors' income with inventory valuation adjustment (IVA) and capital consumption adjustment (CCAdj), rental income of persons with CCAdj, personal income receipts on assets, and personal current transfer receipts, less contributions for government social insurance. Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Seasonal Adjustment

Over the course of a year, employment levels undergo sharp fluctuations due to such seasonal events as changes in weather, reduced or expanded production, harvests, major holidays and the opening and closing of schools. Because these seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern each year, their influence on statistical trends can be eliminated by adjusting the statistics from month-to-month. These adjustments make it easier to observe the cyclical and other non-seasonal movements in the labor force data. Click here for technical notes.

Unemployed

People who are 16 years of age and older and do not have a job but are actively seeking a job.  A more technical definition is the number of those who did not work at all during the week of the 12th, but were looking for work and were available for work during that week, except for temporary illness. Those who had made specific efforts to find work within the preceding four-week period, such as registering at a public or private employment agency, writing letters of application, canvassing for work, etc. are considered to be looking for work. This figure also includes those who did not work at all during the reference week, were available for work and were waiting to be called back to a job from which they had been laid off or were waiting to report to a new job scheduled to start within the following 30 days. Passive methods of job search, such as attending a job-training program course, or merely reading want ads would not qualify a person as unemployed. Unemployed data is developed by the South Dakota Department of Labor in cooperation with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Click here for technical notes.

Unemployment Rate

The percentage of the labor force that does not have jobs but are actively seeking jobs.  A more technical definition is the number of unemployed divided by the total number of people in the resident labor force. Unemployment rate data is developed by the South Dakota Department of Labor in cooperation with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Click here for technical notes.

Wages

Refers to a unit of compensation for the performance of labor, such as an hourly wage or annual salary, but does not include overtime, bonus pay or the value of benefits paid to workers. Occupational wage rates are developed by the South Dakota Department of Labor in cooperation with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.