Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · NH NONMETROPOLITAN AREA · 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
NH unemployment rate at 2.8%, 5th lowest nationally
Bureau of Labor Statistics — State unemployment rate data, August 2026
Wage growth lagged inflation, cutting purchasing power 1.6%
New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute — Wage-vs-inflation analysis via Concord Monitor coverage
This Month's Takeaways
Small businesses under 20 employees drove most 2025 net job growth
New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute — Small-business employment contribution analysis
Labor force participation fell among workers 20-34
Boston Federal Reserve — NH labor force demographic analysis, Sept 2026
Local Economic Conditions
NH nonfarm employment rose 1.1% Jan-Jul 2026, led by health care
New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute — State employment and wage growth analysis, Sept 2026
Looking Ahead
National payrolls added just 29,000 jobs in September, below 12-month average
Bureau of Labor Statistics — National nonfarm payroll employment report
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