Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Joplin, MO 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
Missouri unemployment rate hit 3.2% in September, lowest since 2000
Missouri Department of Labor — State labor market report, September 2026
Missouri job postings fell 11.7% year-over-year in July
Indeed Hiring Lab / Missouri Dept. of Labor — State job postings comparison, July 2026 vs 2025
National nonfarm payrolls added 29,000 jobs in September, below trend
Bureau of Labor Statistics — National employment situation report, September 2026
This Month's Takeaways
Missouri durable goods manufacturing added 2,200 jobs in September
Missouri Department of Labor — State sector-level payroll data, September 2026
Missouri health care added 9,800 jobs year-over-year
Missouri Department of Labor — State year-over-year sector employment data
Local Economic Conditions
Joplin MSA unemployment rate and employment growth figures
Bureau of Labor Statistics / Missouri Dept. of Labor — Metro-level LAUS data through May-June 2026
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