Two New Economic Reports Bode Well For South Dakota

South Dakota's low unemployment rate is helping propel the state to one of the fastest post-COVID economic recoveries in America.

According to the latest numbers from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the Mount Rushmore State's fifth-lowest unemployment rate in the country is helping drive the fourth-best economy from February 2020 to May 2021.

The state's 1.96 percent bump is tied with Newe Hampshire and trails only Utah, Idaho, and Montana.

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South Dakota was one of 47 states that saw their indexes increase from February 2021 to May 2021. Wyoming and Alaska were the only two that saw their numbers go backward.

Meanwhile, when it comes to the amount of debt carried by the average person, South Dakotans are among the least burdened in America.

According to numbers from the Pew Research Center and GOBankingRates, residents of the Mount Rushmore State have the third least amount in the red in the country and is one of just three states with an average debt of less than $7,000.

STATES WITH LEAST PERSONAL DEBT

1. Alaska - $2,286
2. Louisiana - $6,139
3. South Dakota - $6,738
4. Nebraska - $8,426
5. Delaware - $8,583
6. West Virginia - $9,253
7. Idaho - $9,300
8. Georgia - $13,229
9. Ohio - $14,769
10. Kentucky - $16,060

A whopping seven states have an average personal debt of more than $100,000, with residents of Hawaii in the hole for more than three-quarters of a million dollars.

STATES WITH MOST PERSONAL DEBT

1. Hawaii - $869,250
2. Maryland - $284,851.41
3. Texas - $185,583.79
4. Oklahoma - $174,838.92
5. Indiana - $166,844.21
6. Nevada - 165,739.71
7. Minnesota - $113,455.30
8. Illinois - $98,309.16
9. Maine - $91,183.42
10. Virginia - $81,194.04

A survey from the credit bureau Experian shows that consumer debt has increased by nearly one-third in the past decade.