Ogden jobs shrink 1.1% even as unemployment holds at 3.5%
-1.1%
Weber County employment change
125,027 jobs, Aug 2026 vs Aug 2025
3.5%
Metro unemployment rate
vs 4.1% national, 3.5% Utah statewide
3.0% wages vs 3.4% inflation
National real wage growth
Weakest since May 2021
-1,090 jobs
Northern Utah government job loss
Tied to $12.7M state budget shortfall
This Month's Takeaways
01
Job count and jobless rate are telling different stories.
Weber County employment dropped 1.1% year-over-year while the unemployment rate stayed flat at 3.5%, a gap that is consistent with employer caution and reduced churn rather than a surge in job losses. Commerce leaders should treat this as a signal of a plateauing, not weakening, local labor market.
02
Healthcare and hospitality are carrying metro job growth.
Education/health services (+800 jobs) and leisure/hospitality (+384 jobs) posted the metro's clearest gains, alongside a 1.9% rise in financial activities. That concentration suggests consumer-facing and demographic-driven sectors, not goods-producing industries, are currently setting the area's growth pace.
03
Skilled trades pay is outrunning broader wage trends.
HVAC Technician advertised pay rose significantly to $76,630 and Registered Nurse pay to $92,050, both outpacing the metro's otherwise stable-to-soft wage picture. Divergence of this size in specific trade and clinical roles may reflect localized demand pressure tied to housing and healthcare capacity rather than a general wage acceleration.
04
Construction and logistics wages are softening locally.
Construction Laborer pay fell moderately to $39,520 and Warehouse Manager pay dropped significantly to $54,301, both underperforming their national counterparts. Combined with statewide construction weakness, this points to a sector-specific cooling that commerce and development leaders should track against building permit and project pipeline data.
Local Economic Conditions
Weber County payrolls fell 1.1% year-over-year to 125,027 jobs in August even as the metro unemployment rate held at a low 3.5%, a divergence consistent with employer caution rather than worker displacement. Growth concentrated in education/health services (+800 jobs, +1.7%) and leisure/hospitality (+384 jobs), while manufacturing and professional/business services contracted, mirroring the statewide pattern of knowledge and service-sector resilience against blue-collar softness.
Open Threads in the Data
Falling payroll counts alongside stable unemployment suggests employers are managing headcount through attrition rather than layoffs, a pattern commerce leaders should read as cautious stability rather than contraction. Advertised pay for Registered Nurse (up significant, $92,050) and HVAC Technician (up significant, $76,630) signals continued investment capacity in healthcare and skilled trades even as construction labor and warehouse management pay soften, pointing to an uneven but not broadly weakening local business climate. Consider monitoring whether education/health hiring momentum translates into broader services spending, a useful proxy for consumer-facing business conditions heading into the fourth quarter.
Advertised Pay Indicators · WageScape Benchmark 25 Jobs
Job postings data for the Ogden-Clearfield, UT MSA metro — median advertised pay, its recent trend, and the number of active postings behind each figure. Jobs are grouped for readability and are not the same as the 10 sector classifications on the next page. For additional job detail contact WageScape.
Retail Trade
| Retail Sales Associate |
$31,470 |
→ Stable |
2,837 |
| Retail Cashier |
$30,007 |
→ Stable |
1,332 |
Transportation & Warehousing
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate |
$36,010 |
→ Stable |
903 |
| CDL Truck Driver |
$78,517 |
→ Stable |
5,252 |
| Delivery Driver |
$33,386 |
↓ Moderate decline |
2,151 |
| Warehouse Manager |
$54,301 |
↓ Significant decline |
9 |
Construction
| Construction Laborer |
$39,520 |
↓ Moderate decline |
211 |
Construction/Skilled Trades
| Electrician |
$71,150 |
→ Stable |
709 |
| HVAC Technician |
$76,630 |
↑ Significant increase |
132 |
Manufacturing
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler |
$38,906 |
→ Stable |
730 |
Cross-Sector
| Customer Service Representative |
$37,440 |
→ Stable |
827 |
| Operations Manager |
$87,369 |
↑ Significant increase |
18 |
Leisure & Hospitality
| Food Service Worker |
$35,851 |
↑ Moderate increase |
87 |
Healthcare
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide |
$39,520 |
→ Stable |
1,965 |
| Registered Nurse |
$92,050 |
↑ Significant increase |
2,847 |
Admin/Office Support
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk |
$41,785 |
→ Stable |
807 |
Information/Technology
| Software Engineer |
$148,378 |
↑ Moderate increase |
2,342 |
| Data Engineer |
$127,834 |
↑ Moderate increase |
337 |
Professional & Business Services
| Accountant |
$68,647 |
↑ Moderate increase |
751 |
| HR Generalist/Manager |
$68,673 |
↓ Moderate decline |
248 |
| Marketing Specialist |
$61,640 |
↑ Moderate increase |
191 |
| Business Analyst |
$94,711 |
↑ Moderate increase |
317 |
Finance & Insurance
| Financial Analyst |
$92,059 |
↑ Significant increase |
388 |
Government/Education
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher |
$50,245 |
↑ Significant increase |
1,839 |
Cross-Sector Sales
| Account Manager |
$100,000 |
↑ Significant increase |
908 |
Industry Snapshot · Ogden-Clearfield, UT MSA
Advertised pay and job-posting trends across the whole metro economy, rolled up by employer industry — not just the bellwether roles above.
| Sector |
Median Pay Change |
Job Postings Change |
| Construction |
↑ +7.6% |
↑ +303.2% |
| Manufacturing |
↑ +4.9% |
↑ +207.0% |
| Retail Trade |
↑ +6.8% |
↑ +143.8% |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities |
↑ +23.7% |
↑ +162.9% |
| Information |
↑ +101.2% |
↑ +841.2% |
| Financial Activities |
↑ +58.5% |
↑ +502.3% |
| Professional & Business Services |
↑ +18.4% |
↑ +348.3% |
| Education & Health Services |
↑ +36.5% |
↑ +186.2% |
| Leisure & Hospitality |
→ +0.1% |
↑ +107.4% |
| Government |
↑ +83.1% |
↑ +769.3% |
Looking Ahead · Next 30–60 Days
Worth watching
Weber County's year-over-year payroll decline (-1.1%) warrants a second read next month to confirm whether it reflects a data revision, seasonal effect, or a genuine slowdown. A repeat decline alongside stable unemployment would strengthen the case for a broader cooling narrative.
Emerging pressure point
Northern Utah government employment fell 1,090 jobs tied to a $12.7 million state budget shortfall and federal civilian reductions. Continued public-sector contraction would remove a traditionally stable source of local payroll and spending.
Early indicator
Healthcare and skilled-trades pay (Registered Nurse, HVAC Technician) are rising sharply while construction and logistics pay softens. Watch whether this bifurcation widens, which would point to capacity constraints in specific in-demand trades rather than metro-wide wage pressure.
Potential inflection point
National wage growth has slipped to 3.0% against 3.4% inflation, the weakest real-wage picture since 2021. If that national erosion reaches Utah's otherwise resilient wage trend, it would pressure local consumer spending capacity even with unemployment staying low.
Sources & Methodology
Pay and hiring data provided by WageScape. See every source cited in this report, with links →
Advertised pay reflects the pay ranges employers publish in active job postings in this metro, not survey or payroll data. Pay trends compare the current period with the prior period for the same metro and role. Sector figures group postings by the employer's industry classification; sectors with limited classified postings are marked as such rather than estimated. This briefing is independent of, and complements, official statistics from the BLS and state labor market information offices.
WageScape Metro Member Benefit
Track more metros with Metro Job Market Pulse.
This briefing covers one metro area. Add coverage if your beat, jurisdiction, or membership footprint spans more than one market.
Pulse Plus
3 metro reports
$149/year
Pulse Pro
10 metro reports
$349/year
Enterprise
Nationwide — top 50 markets
$999/year
See plans & upgrade →
Scan or click to add coverage
Need a Deeper Cut of the Data?
WageScape's underlying advertised-pay platform is available directly for a specific occupation, a neighboring county, or a custom time window. Contact us at info@wagescape.com to discuss what WageScape can do for you.
Forwarded This Briefing?
Receive your own monthly briefing, filtered to your local market. Contact info@wagescape.com.
