{"schema_version": 1, "id": "cleveland-tn-msa/human-resources/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 129, "label": "Cleveland, TN MSA", "slug": "cleveland-tn-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "human_resources", "slug": "human-resources", "label": "Human Resources"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T02:10:44.918098+00:00", "headline": "Cleveland labor market tightens as local HR pay accelerates.", "headline_summary": "Bradley County unemployment fell to 3.6% in September while advertised pay for Recruiter and HR Business Partner roles rose sharply locally, outpacing stable national trends.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Bradley County unemployment", "value": "3.6%", "context": "Down from 4.0% in August 2026"}, {"label": "Metro mean hourly wage", "value": "$24.36", "context": "vs $33.54 national average (May 2025)"}, {"label": "Tennessee labor force change", "value": "-51,100", "context": "Year-over-year decline, Sept 2026"}, {"label": "Recruiter advertised pay, metro", "value": "$60,000", "context": "Up significantly vs stable national $67,234"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Bradley County's labor market tightened again.", "body": "Unemployment dropped to 3.6% from 4% in a single month, matching a statewide trend of county-level declines in September. Expect continued difficulty filling frontline and administrative roles through year-end as available labor supply contracts further."}, {"headline": "HR and recruiter pay is moving faster locally than nationally.", "body": "Advertised pay for HR Business Partner and Recruiter roles, measured by job ads which track hiring demand and often cover several openings each, shows significant local gains while national figures hold stable or move moderately, suggesting Cleveland-area employers are bidding up internal HR capacity to manage a tightening frontline labor pool. Compensation benchmarking for these roles against national medians alone understates current local competition."}, {"headline": "Tennessee's non-compete ban reshapes offers below $70,000.", "body": "Non-compete agreements are now unenforceable for employees earning under $70,000 as of July 2026, a threshold that covers the large majority of Cleveland's workforce given the metro's $24.36 mean hourly wage. Recruitment offers, handbooks, and retention agreements written before this date likely need updated language to remain compliant."}, {"headline": "Benefits Manager pay signals rising plan-design complexity locally.", "body": "Local advertised pay for Benefits Manager roles rose significantly, tracking national cost pressure on health benefits even in a lower-wage metro. Employers appear to be paying for specialized plan-design and cost-containment expertise regardless of overall local pay levels."}], "local_conditions": "Bradley County's unemployment rate fell to 3.6% in September from 4% in August, tightening alongside a statewide pattern where every Tennessee county posted month-over-month declines, even as the state's labor force shrank by 51,100 workers year over year. Local wage pressure reflects a metro mean hourly wage of $24.36 against a national average of $33.54, a gap that leaves Cleveland employers structurally exposed as healthcare, hospitality, and administrative-support roles compete against better-funded regional and national pay scales.", "implications": "A 3.6% county unemployment rate combined with a shrinking labor force signals that external recruitment will take longer and cost more, pushing retention and internal mobility to the center of workforce planning. The metro's wide wage gap versus national averages means compensation strategy built on national survey data risks mispricing roles in both directions \u2014 underpaying against local competitors or overpaying against a market where $24.36/hour is the mean. Consider reviewing compensation bands for high-turnover occupational groups like transportation/material moving and office/administrative support against current local advertised rates, since national medians can obscure local conditions.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Watch whether Bradley County's unemployment decline continues into October data or reflects seasonal hiring tied to hospitality and retail. A reversal would ease some of the current pressure on frontline recruitment."}, {"category": "Compliance deadline", "body": "Audit timelines for Tennessee's non-compete threshold and CRED discrimination-complaint routing should be nearing completion; incomplete updates create exposure heading into Q1 2027 hiring cycles."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Statewide labor force contraction of 51,100 workers year over year has not yet shown a clear local equivalent in Cleveland-specific data. Track whether Bradley/Polk county labor force participation follows the state's downward trajectory, which would intensify retention pressure further."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Manufacturing employment fell 1.7% statewide even as TNTalent funding targets advanced manufacturing and nuclear-adjacent roles. Watch for whether Cleveland-area manufacturers begin advertising training-linked incentives tied to this funding stream."}], "roles": [{"role": "Compensation Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 69033.0, "metro_p50": 91636.4, "metro_p75": 107349.25, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 100798.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Business Partner", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 52422.0, "metro_p50": 64987.0, "metro_p75": 76953.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 83900.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Benefits Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 82189.5, "metro_p50": 110595.6, "metro_p75": 115015.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 118618.2, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "HRIS Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 76822.75, "metro_p50": 90419.8, "metro_p75": 99148.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 95000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Coordinator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 53430.0, "metro_p50": 54080.0, "metro_p75": 54080.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 50460.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Recruiter", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 58125.0, "metro_p50": 60000.0, "metro_p75": 88377.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 67234.2, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Payroll Specialist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 46414.25, "metro_p50": 55723.0, "metro_p75": 60678.75, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 61103.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Cleveland Banner", "source_url": null, "statement": "Bradley County unemployment rate fell from 4% to 3.6%"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Metro mean hourly wage of $24.36 vs national $33.54"}, {"source_name": "Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development", "source_url": null, "statement": "Tennessee labor force shrank 51,100 year over year"}, {"source_name": "Tennessee General Assembly", "source_url": null, "statement": "Non-compete ban for workers earning under $70,000 effective July 2026"}, {"source_name": "Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development", "source_url": null, "statement": "Bradley County employment and labor force figures"}, {"source_name": "Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development", "source_url": null, "statement": "Tennessee manufacturing employment declined 1.7% over past year"}], "methodology": "Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay.", "edition_label": "November 2026", "files": {"html": "cleveland-tn-msa/human-resources/2026-10.html", "pdf": "cleveland-tn-msa/human-resources/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:20:07.669742+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/cleveland-tn-msa/human-resources/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/cleveland-tn-msa/human-resources/2026-10.pdf"}