Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Niles-Benton Harbor, MI 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
Niles MSA labor force fell 7.6% year-over-year through August 2026
Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget — Berrien County civilian labor force data
Michigan statewide unemployment rate at 5.0% in August 2026
Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget (DTMB) — Statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment release
This Month's Takeaways
Michigan manufacturing sector lost 2,000 jobs over the month in August
Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget — Statewide industry employment change data
Local Economic Conditions
Niles MSA unemployment rate and labor force trends for Sept/Aug 2026
Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget — State labor market data release for Niles-Benton Harbor MSA
Looking Ahead
Michigan minimum wage rises to $15.00/hour effective January 1, 2027
Michigan Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act — State minimum wage schedule
Indeed Job Postings Index turned positive year-over-year for first time in ~4 years
Indeed Hiring Lab — National job postings index, mid-September 2026 reading
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