South Dakota's initial unemployment claims took another big move in the right direction according to the latest job report from the Department of Labor.

There were about 200 fewer claims than last week. The state received 346 initial claims for the week ending September 12, which is the lowest tally since COVID-19 related unemployment claims began ramping up.

In a pre-pandemic world, South Dakota would receive around 200 to 300 initial claims per week, Dakota News Now reports. At the peak of the layoffs in April and May, the state was processing thousands of weekly initial claims as government regulations forced 'non-essential' businesses to close.

The state saw a big drop in continued claims too, decreasing by 2,654 coming in at 6,511 for the week ending September 5.

The latest figures from the U.S. Labor Department indicate 860,000 workers filed an initial claim last week. The total number of Americans who filed an initial claim since COVID-19 shutdowns began is almost 61 million. Continued claims fell by 916,000 to around 12.6 million.

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