Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Fairbanks, AK 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
Fairbanks MSA seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 3.1%
Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development — Fairbanks MSA labor force statistics
U.S. nonfarm payrolls added 29,000 jobs in September 2026
Bureau of Labor Statistics — Employment Situation report, September 2026
National wage growth at 3.0% annual vs 3.4% inflation
Bureau of Labor Statistics — Average hourly earnings and CPI data, September 2026
This Month's Takeaways
Alaska lost 4.5% of federal jobs in 2025
Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development — State labor market federal employment data
Alaska construction employment declined 700 jobs statewide
Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development — Statewide sector employment figures, 2026
Local Economic Conditions
University of Alaska Fairbanks and Fort Wainwright as major local employers
OCITY Labor Market Profile — Fairbanks metro employer and sector composition
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