Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Merced, CA 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
California unemployment rate at 5.1% in August 2026, 48th nationally
California Employment Development Department — State labor market data release
This Month's Takeaways
California health/social assistance added 4,300 jobs year-over
California EDD — Industry employment sector breakdown
California professional/business services contracted 1,700 jobs
California EDD — State industry employment data
Local Economic Conditions
Merced MSA unemployment rate was 9.2% in June 2026
Bureau of Labor Statistics / EDD — Local Area Unemployment Statistics for Merced MSA
Looking Ahead
California allocated $3 million for Valero Benicia Refinery closure impact
State of California — Workforce transition funding announcement
National wage growth at 3.0% vs 3.4% inflation
Bureau of Labor Statistics — Average hourly earnings and CPI data
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