Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA 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
Regional job growth projected at 0.81% from 2024-2029, adding ~8,500 jobs
My Bellingham Now / Washington Employment Security Department projections — Northwest Washington regional job growth projection
This Month's Takeaways
Whatcom and Skagit counties' overall labor forces are dropping
Franksplaining Business — Northwest Washington labor force trend reporting, September 2026
Local Economic Conditions
Skagit County unemployment rate fell to 3.8% in July 2026, down from 4.4% in June
Washington Employment Security Department — County-level unemployment data, July 2026
Manufacturing comprises 12% of Skagit County employment vs 7.5% statewide
Skagit County Trends — Industry sector employment breakdown, July 2026
Looking Ahead
Washington statewide WARN notices heaviest in September, including Gilbert Orchards and Sundquist Fruit
Washington Employment Security Department WARN filings — WARN Act notice data, September 2026
National wage growth slipped to 3.0% annual, lowest since May 2021, against 3.4% inflation
Bureau of Labor Statistics — National wage and CPI data, September 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