Western South Dakota News

Dewey County recorded an unemployment rate of 18.8% among residents aged 16 and 65 years old in 2021. That’s 451 people out of the 5,343 living in Dewey County at the time, according to data obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The unemployment rate in Dewey County has decreased compared to the 21.4% registered in 2020.

The percentage of people unemployed in Dewey County was greater than the statewide unemployment rate of 3.2%.

Of the 1,950 people who had a job during that time, 8 were employed in the Armed Forces and 1,942 belonged to the civilian labor force.

Employment status	Number of people	Percentage of population
Unemployed	451	18.8%
Employed	1,950	81.2%
Employed in civilian labor force	1,942	80.9%
Employed in armed forces	8	0.3%