Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Mankato-North Mankato, MN 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
Mankato gained 100 jobs in August 2026, down from 500 in July
USA Facts / BLS — Monthly nonfarm payroll change for Mankato MSA
This Month's Takeaways
Minnesota labor force participation fell to 66.9% from 68.1% year-over-year
Minnesota DEED — State labor force participation rate trend, 2026
Minnesota manufacturing added 2,200 jobs in August 2026
Minnesota DEED — State sector-level employment change, August 2026
Local Economic Conditions
Mankato unemployment rate was 3.9% in July 2026
USA Facts / BLS — Metro-level unemployment data for Mankato-North Mankato MSA
Looking Ahead
National wage growth of 3.0% trails 3.4% inflation, weakest since May 2021
Bureau of Labor Statistics — National average hourly earnings growth vs CPI
Minnesota WARN notices affected 1,473 workers in 2026, down 69% from 2025
Minnesota DEED WARN Act filings — Statewide layoff notice tracking, year-over-year comparison
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