{"schema_version": 1, "id": "ogden-clearfield-ut-msa/human-resources/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 7, "label": "Ogden-Clearfield, UT MSA", "slug": "ogden-clearfield-ut-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "human_resources", "slug": "human-resources", "label": "Human Resources"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T02:40:02.057957+00:00", "headline": "Ogden job growth stalls while wage pressure splits by county.", "headline_summary": "Ogden-Clearfield added just 1,000 jobs in August after a year of net losses in 2025, while Washington County's 7% wage growth far outpaces Weber County's 4.0-4.3%.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Ogden-Clearfield unemployment rate", "value": "3.5%", "context": "vs 4.1% national rate, Sept 2026"}, {"label": "Metro monthly job growth", "value": "1,000 jobs", "context": "Aug 2026, after net losses averaging 2025"}, {"label": "County wage growth spread", "value": "7% vs 4.0-4.3%", "context": "Washington County vs Weber/Salt Lake/Utah counties"}, {"label": "Manufacturing avg weekly wage", "value": "$1,453", "context": "Leads metro sectors, vs $1,108 healthcare"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Metro job growth has gone from steady to erratic.", "body": "Five-year average monthly gains of 297 jobs gave way to net losses through 2025, with July and August 2026 each adding just 1,000 jobs. Treat recent stabilization as tentative when building 2027 headcount plans, pending confirmation of a sustained return to growth."}, {"headline": "Recruiter pay is climbing while HR Coordinator pay is falling.", "body": "Metro Recruiter advertised pay rose to $98,639 territory of significant year-over-year growth while HR Coordinator pay dropped significantly to $43,041, a gap that widens the internal equity distance between entry-level and sourcing-focused HR roles. This divergence may reflect employers investing in talent acquisition capacity even as they hold the line on administrative support compensation."}, {"headline": "Benefits Manager pay signals rising plan complexity.", "body": "Metro advertised pay for Benefits Manager climbed to $110,000, a significant increase that tracks the national trend toward $118,618 as employers navigate IRS benefit limit corrections and expanding compliance obligations. Compensation for this role is worth benchmarking against current demand."}, {"headline": "Immigration-driven labor tightening is reshaping wages across frontline roles.", "body": "Tighter immigration policy is pushing wages higher in hospitality, food service and construction roles that have historically relied on that labor pool. HR leaders managing frontline compensation should treat this as a structural supply shift that will persist beyond any single season."}], "local_conditions": "Ogden-Clearfield's unemployment rate held at 3.5% through mid-2026, but monthly job growth has decelerated sharply from an average 297 jobs added monthly over the past five years to a 2025 pattern of net losses, before stabilizing with 1,000 jobs added in both July and August. Manufacturing continues to anchor the metro's wage structure at $1,453 average weekly wages, while tighter immigration enforcement appears to be pushing up pay in hospitality, food service and construction roles that depend heavily on that labor supply.", "implications": "Deceleration in metro job growth alongside steady unemployment is consistent with Utah's statewide shift toward a low-hire, low-fire posture, meaning HR leaders should expect thinner applicant pipelines even as voluntary turnover stays muted. Wage pressure is concentrating unevenly \u2014 Washington County's 7% wage growth dwarfs Weber County's 4.0-4.3%, and immigration-driven tightening in frontline labor supply is reshaping pay expectations in construction and hospitality faster than compensation structures typically adjust. Organizations should evaluate whether current pay bands for hourly and frontline roles reflect this supply-side pressure and update them to match current conditions.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "August's 1,000-job gain follows a full year of average monthly losses in 2025. Watch whether September and October figures confirm a sustained rebound or mark a temporary blip before committing to aggressive 2027 hiring plans."}, {"category": "Compliance deadline", "body": "Utah hospitals must adopt anti-retaliation policies covering reporting and investigation participation by November 1, 2026. Health system HR teams should confirm policy rollout is complete and documented ahead of that date."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Washington County's 7% wage growth against Weber County's 4.0-4.3% suggests a widening north-south pay gap within Utah. Multi-site employers should assess whether single statewide pay structures are becoming competitively exposed in southern Utah markets."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Utah's new restriction barring non-competes for healthcare workers since May 6, 2026 removes a retention lever just as hospital compliance deadlines converge. Health system HR leaders may need to lean more heavily on compensation and scheduling flexibility to offset the lost retention tool."}], "roles": [{"role": "Compensation Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 75000.0, "metro_p50": 98639.0, "metro_p75": 107244.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 100798.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Business Partner", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 56160.0, "metro_p50": 78892.0, "metro_p75": 99604.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 83900.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Benefits Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 57494.5, "metro_p50": 110000.0, "metro_p75": 132202.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 118618.2, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "HRIS Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 82637.5, "metro_p50": 111039.4, "metro_p75": 111810.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 95000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Coordinator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 36984.5, "metro_p50": 43041.2, "metro_p75": 46452.25, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 50460.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Recruiter", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 51096.25, "metro_p50": 70040.8, "metro_p75": 80484.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 67234.2, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Payroll Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 48662.5, "metro_p50": 56160.0, "metro_p75": 62711.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 61103.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Ogden-Clearfield MSA unemployment rate at 3.5%"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Metro added 1,000 jobs in August 2026, five-year monthly average 297 jobs"}, {"source_name": "Utah Department of Workforce Services", "source_url": null, "statement": "Washington County wage growth reached 7% year-over-year vs Weber County 4.0-4.3%"}, {"source_name": "Utah Department of Workforce Services", "source_url": null, "statement": "Utah hospitals must adopt anti-retaliation policies by November 1, 2026"}, {"source_name": "Utah Department of Workforce Services", "source_url": null, "statement": "Non-competes barred for Utah healthcare workers since May 6, 2026"}, {"source_name": "Utah Department of Workforce Services", "source_url": null, "statement": "Manufacturing average weekly wage of $1,453 leads metro sectors"}], "methodology": "Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay.", "edition_label": "November 2026", "files": {"html": "ogden-clearfield-ut-msa/human-resources/2026-10.html", "pdf": "ogden-clearfield-ut-msa/human-resources/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:27:29.667811+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/ogden-clearfield-ut-msa/human-resources/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/ogden-clearfield-ut-msa/human-resources/2026-10.pdf"}