PIERRE, S.D.(DRGNews)- Toward the end of this month (week ending June 26, 2021), South Dakota will stop participating in national pandemic-related unemployment assistance programs.

State Labor and Regulation Secretary Marcia Hultman says business owners across the state say they can’t find enough workers.

Hultman says one reemployment obstacle is there’s a disconnect between the jobs that are available and the people who are looking for work.

She says the South Dakota Works website has a variety of resources for those looking for employment.

Hultman says people currently receiving unemployment should continue to file their weekly request for payment. She says South Dakota will continue to pay regular state unemployment claims.

Programs ending at the end of the month in South Dakota are:

• Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)– affected claimants who have exhausted their traditional 26 weeks of regular State unemployment compensation.
• Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC)– issued $300 supplemental weekly payments to all claimants who were receiving unemployment benefits regardless of the program under which they were being paid.
• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)– currently provides benefits to the self-employed, the underemployed, independent contractors and individuals who have been unable to work due to health or COVID-19-related reasons.