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Sioux Falls Metro Area Profile - Local Employment Dynamics (LED)

About the Sioux Falls Metro Area

In order to qualify as a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), an area must have at least one urbanized area with a population of 50,000 or more, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting ties. The Sioux Falls MSA consists of McCook, Minnehaha, Lincoln and Turner counties.

Employment

The following tables compare the area's total employment, new hires and average wages by age and gender for the fourth quarters of 2010 and 2011.

Total Employment

Total Employment: The estimate of the total number of jobs on the first day of the reference quarter.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, the Sioux Falls MSA's jobs totaled 134,191, an increase of 1.8% percent (2,326 jobs gained) from a year earlier.

Females
The only female group whose total employment levels fell over the year was the 44- to 54-year-olds (1.4 percent decline). The youngest and oldest groups (14 to 18 and 65 to 99) had the greatest increases in total employment, both above 5 percent.

Males
With a 6.4 percent rise, total employment for the eldest age group (65 to 99) registered the biggest percentage increase for either gender. At the other end of the spectrum, total employment for males ages 14 to 18 dropped by 3.4 percent, the greatest decline overall, and the only male group to fall.

Hiring Activity

New Hires: The estimated number of workers who started a new job. More specifically, total hires who worked for an employer in the specified quarter and were not employed by that employer in any of the previous four quarters.

In the Sioux Falls MSA total new hires rose 6.9 percent over the year.

Females
Women led the way in new hires, claiming four out the five top spots, all of which were higher than the overall female average increase of 11.1 percent. None of the female groups' new hire numbers fell.

Males
With a 19.2 percent increase, the 55- to 64-year-olds were the one male group to make it into the top five in new hires. Those ages 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 were the only ones whose new hire numbers declined (-2.0 percent and -3.7 percent, respectively).

Earnings

Average monthly earnings: The average monthly earnings of employees with stable jobs (worked at the same firm for the entire quarter).

In the Sioux Falls MSA average monthly earnings increased by 0.8 percent over the year.

Females

Average earnings for women in the 65 to 99 age group increase the most at 7.1 percent. Women ages 19 to 21 had the next highest earnings bump at 4.1 percent. The 25- to 34-year-olds and the 14- to 18-year olds were the only ones on the female side whose earnings declined, both by less than 0.3 percent.

Males
Outdoing their counterparts, the 65-to 99 year-old males' average earnings increased the most for either gender at 9.7 percent. The other male age groups fell in a range between a 1.8 percent increase (35 to 44 years) to a 1.1 percent decrease (55 to 64 years).

Industry and Gender in the Sioux Falls MSA

In the Sioux Falls MSA, the workforce across all industries is 51 percent female and 49 percent male for the fourth quarter of 2011.

Let's delve deeper and explore which industries contain predominately female or male workers.

Females in the Sioux Falls MSA made up the majority of workers in the following industries (fourth quarter, 2011):

• Health Care and Social Assistance: 79.9%
• Educational Services: 70.7%
• Finance and Insurance: 65.0%
• Management of Companies and Enterprises: 63.0%
• Arts, Entertainment and Recreation: 54.6%
• Accommodation and Food Services: 54.1%
• Retail Trade: 52.1%
• Other Services (except Public Administration): 51.9%
  

Males in the Sioux Falls MSA made up the majority of workers in the following industries (fourth quarter, 2011):

• Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction: 89.4%
• Construction: 89.2%
• Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting: 80.8%
• Transportation and Warehousing: 79.1%
• Wholesale Trade: 78.2%
• Utilities: 76.7%
• Manufacturing: 72.1%
• Information: 62.2%
• Public Administration: 59.9%
• Real Estate and Rental and Leasing: 55.8%
• Administrative and Support, and Waste Management and Remediation Services: 53.2%
• Professional, Scientific and Technical Services: 52.0%

Sioux Falls MSA On The Map

The following graphics provide labor shed data (where people in the area live and work) for the Sioux Falls MSA. At the beginning of the second quarter in 2010 (most current data available), 88.6 percent of people who lived in the Sioux Falls MSA had a primary job in the MSA, while 11.4 percent who lived in the MSA were employed outside of it. Of those employed in the area, 17.3 percent commute from outside the MSA. A primary job is the highest paying job for an individual worker. Primary jobs are public- and private-sector jobs, one job per worker.

 

About the Local Employment Dynamics (LED) Data

The LED partnership is the cornerstone of a program designed to develop new information about local labor markets. This partnership between state labor market information agencies and the Census Bureau supplies new measures known as Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI). The LED data compiled throughout this report by the U.S. Census Bureau is not reflective of labor market reports from other Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) programs.

Note: Federal government employment is not generally included in the QWI data. Exempted employment varies slightly from state to state due to variations in state unemployment laws, but generally also excludes many farmers and agricultural employees, domestic workers, self-employed non-agricultural workers, members of the Armed Services, some state and local government employees as well as certain types of nonprofit employers and religious organizations (which are given a choice of coverage or non-coverage in a number of states).

How is confidentiality addressed in the data?

The Census Bureau and the state partners are committed to protecting the confidentiality of the data in the LED files. Technically, the approach to avoid disclosure of individual information combines cell suppression methodology with the addition of statistical noise, controlling key measures to county employment levels as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

You can easily access the LED data tools on the U.S. Census Bureau's website. The Labor Market Information Center's economic analysts are familiar with the tools and are available to assist you. Please contact us as needed for assistance.