Mitchell's unemployment rate rises slightly

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Mitchell's unemployment rate was up slightly in October, according to data released Wednesday morning by the state Department of Labor.

The city's October rate was 3.6 percent, up from 3.5 percent in September. The September rate was the city's lowest since November 2008, the month before the effects of the national economic recession began to show up in Mitchell's employment data.

The Department of Labor's city-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted, meaning the impacts from seasonal hirings and firings in industries such as construction and tourism are not removed from the data. The comparable, non-seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in October, and the national rate was 9 percent.

Mitchell's October rate of 3.6 percent was the fifth highest among the state's largest cities. Other October rates were 4.9 percent in Rapid City, 4.4 percent in Sioux Falls, 4.3 percent in Spearfish, 4 percent in Watertown and Yankton, 3.5 percent in Brookings and Huron, 3.4 percent in Aberdeen, 3.1 percent in Vermillion and 2.8 percent in Pierre.

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