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Labor Market Pulse
Florence, SC Metro Edition
Focus: HR
Florence jobs flat, wages swing 15% — a supply story, not growth.
96,200
Florence MSA employment
Down 400 jobs YoY, 200 MoM (June 2026)
$903.56
Florence average weekly wage
+15.3% YoY, -1.2% MoM (June 2026)
4.6%
Florence County unemployment
Down from 4.8% metro rate a year earlier
4.0%
SC statewide wage growth
vs Florence's single-month volatility pattern
This Month's Takeaways
Flat job count masks a tightening, not a slowdown.
Florence MSA employment fell 400 jobs year-over-year while unemployment ticked down to 4.6% in July, indicating labor supply is shrinking faster than labor demand. Workforce planning should assume candidate scarcity persists even without headline job growth.
Wage volatility is the real story this month.
A 15.3% year-over-year jump in average weekly wages alongside a 1.2% monthly decline points to a thin, sector-sensitive labor market where pay data swings on composition shifts, not steady broad-based growth. Treat single-month wage figures cautiously when setting pay ranges.
Transportation and warehousing is the growth sector to benchmark against.
Projected growth of 42.9% in transportation and warehousing employment (9,116 to 13,030) suggests this sector will absorb a disproportionate share of local hiring competition. Compensation strategy for logistics-adjacent roles may need to move ahead of statewide averages rather than track them.
Recruiter pay diverging sharply from national trend is a local signal worth probing.
Metro advertised pay for Recruiter roles is down moderately while the national median is up moderately — an unusual local divergence that may reflect softer internal talent acquisition demand even as the broader market still competes for recruiting talent. Worth checking whether this reflects genuine demand softness or a thin local posting sample.
Local Labor Conditions
Florence MSA employment held essentially flat at 96,200 in June 2026, down 400 jobs year-over-year, even as the county unemployment rate tightened to 4.6% by July — a signal of labor supply contraction rather than hiring expansion. Average weekly wages jumped 15.3% year-over-year to $903.56 despite a 1.2% monthly dip, a volatility pattern consistent with a smaller, less liquid metro labor market reacting to sector-specific shifts in transportation, warehousing, and healthcare rather than broad-based demand.
Leadership & Talent Implications
Flat headline employment alongside sharp wage volatility suggests Florence employers are competing harder for a shrinking pool of workers rather than adding net new roles, which should push HR leaders toward retention and internal mobility strategies over aggressive external hiring. Projected 42.9% growth in transportation and warehousing employment signals where future wage pressure will concentrate, while the absence of major WARN activity or plant announcements this month points to a market in consolidation rather than disruption. Consider reviewing compensation structures for transportation, logistics, and healthcare roles now, ahead of the demand curve rather than in reaction to it.
