{"schema_version": 1, "id": "greenville-mauldin-easley-sc-msa/metro-job-market/2026-09", "product": "Metro Job Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 221, "label": "Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, SC MSA", "slug": "greenville-mauldin-easley-sc-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "general_conditions", "slug": "metro-job-market", "label": "General Market Conditions"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:39:19.612458+00:00", "headline": "Greenville holds 3.9% unemployment as national hiring stalls.", "headline_summary": "Greenville-Mauldin-Easley's 3.9% August unemployment rate continues to outperform South Carolina's 4.1% and the nation's 4.2%, even as U.S. payroll growth slowed to just 29,000 jobs in September.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "3.9%", "context": "vs 4.1% SC, 4.2% US (Aug/Sept 2026)"}, {"label": "National payroll growth", "value": "+29,000 jobs", "context": "Sept 2026, below 45k 12-mo avg"}, {"label": "National wage growth", "value": "3.0% YoY", "context": "Lowest since May 2021, vs 3.4% CPI"}, {"label": "SC WARN notices YTD", "value": "33 notices / 4,155 workers", "context": "Manufacturing, food/hospitality hit hardest"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Greenville's jobless rate beats state and national averages.", "body": "August 2026 unemployment of 3.9% compares favorably to South Carolina's 4.1% and the U.S. rate of 4.2%, suggesting the metro's labor market remains tighter than broader benchmarks even as national job growth decelerates sharply. This relative resilience is a defensible, quotable data point for press and economic development messaging this month."}, {"headline": "Healthcare and skilled trades carry local wage momentum.", "body": "Registered Nurse and HVAC Technician advertised pay both show significant upward movement locally, mirroring the national pattern of healthcare and hands-on construction-adjacent trades outpacing white-collar occupations. This is consistent with Health Care and Social Assistance's position as the metro's largest employment sector at nearly 48,000 workers."}, {"headline": "White-collar and production pay softness bears watching.", "body": "Operations Manager, Financial Analyst, and Manufacturing Production Worker advertised pay all registered moderate-to-significant declines locally even as national figures for these roles held stable or rose. Given production occupations represent 9.4% of local employment \u2014 nearly double the national share \u2014 sustained softness here would carry more weight for Greenville than for a typical metro."}, {"headline": "Public-sector stability remains a steadying force statewide.", "body": "South Carolina government employment grew 5,900 jobs year-over-year even as the national picture showed government shedding workers for a fifth straight month. That divergence suggests state and local public payrolls may be insulating South Carolina metros, including Greenville, from the federal-level public-sector contraction showing up in national data."}], "local_conditions": "Greenville-Mauldin-Easley MSA unemployment held at 3.9% in August 2026, outperforming both the South Carolina (4.1%) and U.S. (4.2%) rates, even as national hiring cooled to 29,000 jobs added in September and wage growth slipped below inflation nationally. Locally, wage-vs-inflation dynamics look mixed across the basket \u2014 healthcare (Registered Nurse +significant) and skilled trades (HVAC Technician +significant) show real advertised-pay gains, while production-line and administrative roles (Manufacturing Production Worker, Operations Manager, Financial Analyst) are seeing moderate-to-significant declines, consistent with the national split between hands-on and white-collar labor demand.", "implications": "Divergence between strengthening blue-collar/healthcare pay and softening white-collar and production-adjacent pay suggests the metro's expansion is real but uneven, a relevant signal for commerce leaders weighing expansion timing against which sub-sectors still show pricing power for talent. Public-sector stability at the state level (government added 5,900 jobs year-over-year) offers a steadying counterweight to softer financial-activities and administrative categories, reinforcing the metro's reputation as a diversified rather than single-industry economy. Current conditions suggest economic development and chamber leaders track sector-level advertised-pay divergence rather than headline unemployment alone when assessing which parts of the local business climate are genuinely heating up.\n\n", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Expected release", "body": "September 2026 BLS employment figures for the Greenville-Mauldin-Easley MSA won't post until mid-October, so August's 3.9% reading remains the most current official benchmark. Watch for whether the metro holds its gap versus the state's 4.1% and the national 4.2% rate once new data lands."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "DP World's September 1 WARN filing in nearby Spartanburg (205 workers) adds to a statewide total of 33 WARN notices and 4,155 affected workers in 2026, concentrated in manufacturing and food/hospitality. Given Greenville's outsized manufacturing and logistics footprint, any similar filing locally would be a meaningful signal worth tracking in chamber and EDC briefings."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "National wage growth has fallen to its lowest annual pace since May 2021 (3.0%) against 3.4% inflation, eroding real purchasing power. Whether Greenville's wage-vs-CPI gap narrows or widens locally will shape read-throughs for consumer spending and retail/hospitality activity heading into the holiday season."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National payroll growth of just 29,000 in September, with downward revisions of 60,000 to prior months, raises the question of whether Greenville's historically tighter labor market can stay decoupled from a national slowdown. A soft October state or metro release would be the first real test of that decoupling."}], "roles": [{"role": "Retail Sales Associate", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 22880.0, "metro_p50": 28080.0, "metro_p75": 32358.5, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 33325.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Retail Cashier", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 23409.75, "metro_p50": 26423.0, "metro_p75": 29120.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 31200.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 30379.0, "metro_p50": 35515.0, "metro_p75": 38480.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 38000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "CDL Truck Driver", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 52197.0, "metro_p50": 75400.0, "metro_p75": 83590.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 78000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Delivery Driver", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 26873.0, "metro_p50": 32291.0, "metro_p75": 38736.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 34344.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Construction Laborer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 26983.5, "metro_p50": 33603.0, "metro_p75": 37440.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 40560.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Electrician", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 55371.0, "metro_p50": 62400.0, "metro_p75": 68000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 71404.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 30977.25, "metro_p50": 36036.0, "metro_p75": 38480.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 39520.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Customer Service Representative", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 33280.0, "metro_p50": 38480.0, "metro_p75": 43045.25, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 39520.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Food Service Worker", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 25707.0, "metro_p50": 27965.0, "metro_p75": 29170.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 33756.2, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 31978.0, "metro_p50": 36140.0, "metro_p75": 39520.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 41106.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 33111.0, "metro_p50": 39520.0, "metro_p75": 44860.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 43680.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "HVAC Technician", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 54600.0, "metro_p50": 64719.0, "metro_p75": 72800.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 70720.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Registered Nurse", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 81120.0, "metro_p50": 94380.0, "metro_p75": 99940.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 102581.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 91710.0, "metro_p50": 120726.4, "metro_p75": 130060.75, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 153652.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Data Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 102724.0, "metro_p50": 114012.0, "metro_p75": 128693.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 139500.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 53741.0, "metro_p50": 63193.0, "metro_p75": 67852.75, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 72182.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Financial Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 60756.0, "metro_p50": 73316.0, "metro_p75": 76635.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 94782.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Generalist/Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 57041.0, "metro_p50": 66161.0, "metro_p75": 75000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 75000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Marketing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 43952.0, "metro_p50": 53135.2, "metro_p75": 60381.5, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 62354.4, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Operations Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 56276.25, "metro_p50": 69777.2, "metro_p75": 72089.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 85216.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Elementary/Secondary School Teacher", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 29640.0, "metro_p50": 39520.0, "metro_p75": 51886.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 56731.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Account Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 62500.0, "metro_p50": 87500.0, "metro_p75": 100000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 92749.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Warehouse Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 55660.5, "metro_p50": 78053.0, "metro_p75": 78053.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 75000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Business Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 76378.0, "metro_p50": 86320.0, "metro_p75": 95448.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 98279.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [{"sector": "Construction", "median_pay": 62400.0, "pay_trend_direction": "down", "pay_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Manufacturing", "median_pay": 65662.0, "pay_trend_direction": "up", "pay_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Retail Trade", "median_pay": 34812.0, "pay_trend_direction": "stable", "pay_trend_magnitude": "stable", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities", "median_pay": 52000.0, "pay_trend_direction": "down", "pay_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Information", "median_pay": 65000.0, "pay_trend_direction": "down", "pay_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Financial Activities", "median_pay": 71253.0, "pay_trend_direction": "up", "pay_trend_magnitude": "significant", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Professional & Business Services", "median_pay": 53621.0, "pay_trend_direction": "up", "pay_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Education & Health Services", "median_pay": 44425.0, "pay_trend_direction": "down", "pay_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Leisure & Hospitality", "median_pay": 29348.0, "pay_trend_direction": "down", "pay_trend_magnitude": "significant", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Government", "median_pay": 65243.0, "pay_trend_direction": "up", "pay_trend_magnitude": "significant", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}], "citations": [], "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": "October 2026", "files": {"html": "greenville-mauldin-easley-sc-msa/metro-job-market/2026-09.html", "pdf": "greenville-mauldin-easley-sc-msa/metro-job-market/2026-09.pdf", "sources_html": "greenville-mauldin-easley-sc-msa/metro-job-market/2026-09.sources.html"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T13:51:09.600829+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/greenville-mauldin-easley-sc-msa/metro-job-market/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/greenville-mauldin-easley-sc-msa/metro-job-market/2026-09.pdf"}