South Dakota Unemployment
What you need to know to claim unemployment benefits in South Dakota, read on the agency's own website. The agency is Department of Labor and Regulation, Reemployment Assistance Division (DLR).
the most a week
work search activities a week
RA Customer Service Center: questions about your reemployment assistance (unemployment) claim
How to file for unemployment in South Dakota
Apply online through the RA Benefits Portal, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or by phone with the Claims Call Center at 605.626.3179, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:20 p.m. Central Time. Online is the fastest way.
From the agency's own page, read October 14, 2026.
After you apply: claiming each week
File a weekly request for payment every week, online on the RA Benefits Portal or by phone at 605.626.3212, both 24 hours a day. A week runs Sunday to Saturday; file for it once it is over, within seven days of its end. The first eligible week is an unpaid waiting week.
From the agency's own page, read October 14, 2026.
How much unemployment pays in South Dakota, and for how long
The most you can get is $575 a week and the least is $28.
From July 5, 2026 the weekly amount is between $28 and $575: 1/26th of the wages paid in the highest quarter of your base period, up to the maximum. The most paid in a benefit year is one-third of base period wages, but not more than 26 times the weekly benefit.
From the agency's own page, read October 14, 2026.
How many jobs you must apply for each week
South Dakota asks for 2 work search activities a week. The filing instructions say whether you must search. Not required with a definite recall date in some seasonal cases, for union members in good standing with a referring union, or with a recall to full-time work within 10 consecutive weeks. Claimants working reduced hours must search.
On the weekly request for payment: business name, date, the hiring person contacted and the method. Keep a record; the agency verifies with employers and may audit.
From the agency's own page, read October 14, 2026.
Our free job application tracker keeps the list: where you applied, when, and what came of it.
South Dakota unemployment phone number
Call 605.626.2452 (rA Customer Service Center: questions about your reemployment assistance (unemployment) claim), 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time, Monday to Friday. Every line and what it is for.
Where this comes from
Everything on this page was read on the agency's own website, and each part links the page it came from and the day we read it. Rules and amounts change, so check that page before you rely on a figure. Jobareer is not part of any state agency and cannot see or change your claim.
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