Pasadena, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/28/2010 -- A skills program run by the South Dakota Labor Department with a federal grant has trained 334 teenagers and young adults in workplace skills.

The program, called Dakota Roots, helps former South Dakotans to find jobs in the state. The program also helped the young workers earn around $460,000. The state’s Labor Department paid up to $5,000 for every trainee’s wages, including tools, transportation, and even work clothes.

Some of the newly trained workers were hired by the businesses after finishing their summer program. The main focus of the training was on helping young adults to learn about good work habits and get experience by working for real businesses. 218 businesses participated in the program.

The unemployment rate for South Dakota was 4.5 percent out of a workforce of 443,000 in August 2010, making the jobless rate among the lowest in the country.

A. Harrison Barnes, CEO of EmploymentCrossing, says that he South Dakota is among the states where the locals are in a relatively good position. “We are a job aggregator company, and we have been able to find over 3,000 jobs in South Dakota. Since the state has a relatively small labor force, that number of job openings is pretty good.”