Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Decatur, IL MSA · October 2026
Every advertised-pay, job-posting and industry figure in this briefing comes from WageScape's own database of active job postings. The sources below back the external facts cited in the written analysis.
Sources cited in this report
Key Indicators
National wage growth at 3.0% vs 3.4% inflation, lowest since May 2021
Bureau of Labor Statistics — National average hourly earnings and CPI data
This Month's Takeaways
Illinois labor force contracted from 6.571M (March) to 6.477M (August 2026)
Moody's Analytics / IDES — State labor force participation data
Local Economic Conditions
Decatur MSA unemployment at 5.6% in September, down from 6.8% February peak
Illinois Department of Employment Security — Metro-area unemployment rate series
Decatur total nonfarm employment near 47,700; sector gains/losses in Education/Health vs Leisure/Hospitality
Illinois Department of Employment Security — Metro nonfarm payroll and industry detail
Looking Ahead
Illinois WARN notices: 29 filings affecting 9,357 workers in past 90 days
Illinois Department of Commerce (WARN Act filings) — State WARN notice tracking
Q1 2026 Illinois EDGE commitments: ~4,000 jobs, $2.5B investment
Illinois Economic Development Corporation — State business investment incentive data
How the numbers are calculated
- Advertised pay is the median of the pay ranges employers publish in active job postings in this metro. It is not survey or payroll data.
- Percent changes compare the latest six full months with the six months before that, for the same metro and sector.
- Sectors group postings by the employer's industry (NAICS) classification into ten sectors. Where a metro has too few postings in a sector, the state figure is used instead.
- Role pay trends use the same comparison windows. "Stable" means a change of less than 3%; "moderate" 3–10%; "significant" more than 10%.
Official data for comparison