{"schema_version": 1, "id": "palm-coast-fl-msa/finance/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 331, "label": "Palm Coast, FL MSA", "slug": "palm-coast-fl-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T05:43:11.702876+00:00", "headline": "Palm Coast finance hiring tightens despite loose headline unemployment.", "headline_summary": "Flagler County unemployment sits at 5.5% against a 4.1% national rate, yet Tax Specialist pay has jumped to $40,405 locally while FP&A Manager pay holds flat at $120,000 against a rising $130,000 national median.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Flagler County unemployment", "value": "5.5%", "context": "vs 4.1% national, 4.4% Florida statewide"}, {"label": "Florida finance sector job losses", "value": "-15,800 jobs", "context": "Past 12 months, finance and insurance roles"}, {"label": "CFO turnover rate", "value": "18.3%", "context": "Highest since pandemic, per Crist|Kolder"}, {"label": "Flagler County labor force", "value": "56,612", "context": "September 2026, up from prior months"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Palm Coast's finance labor pool is thinner than headline unemployment suggests.", "body": "Flagler County unemployment at 5.5% looks loose, but the local economy lacks a deep bench of credentialed finance professionals, concentrated instead in healthcare and retail employers like Florida Hospital Flagler and Walmart. Controllers hiring locally should expect longer time-to-fill even with elevated headline unemployment."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist pay is repricing fast relative to national norms.", "body": "Metro advertised pay for Tax Specialist rose significantly to $40,405, still far below the national median of $69,556, pointing to a structural underpricing that risks losing candidates to remote national employers. Compensation benchmarking should flag this role for a wider geographic comparison beyond a local-only reference point."}, {"headline": "Statewide finance sector contraction is a sourcing opportunity.", "body": "Florida lost 15,800 finance and insurance jobs over the past year, concentrated in higher-wage roles averaging over $130k annually. Palm Coast employers willing to offer hybrid arrangements may be able to recruit displaced talent from Orlando, Tampa, or South Florida at competitive local rates."}, {"headline": "FP&A Manager pay is flat locally while national demand climbs.", "body": "Metro FP&A Manager pay held at $120,000 even as the national median rose to $130,000, a gap that may widen as finance teams nationally compete for data-literate FP&A talent. Flat local pay against rising national demand increases flight risk for Palm Coast's most analytically skilled finance staff."}], "local_conditions": "Flagler County's unemployment rate held at 5.5% in August, nearly a full point above the national rate of 4.1% and the fourth straight month above Florida's 4.4% statewide figure, even as the local civilian labor force expanded to 56,612 in September. A thin regional finance employer base \u2014 paired with statewide finance and insurance job losses of 15,800 over the past year \u2014 means Palm Coast's Finance talent pool skews toward healthcare, retail, and public-sector accounting work, with limited corporate finance depth.", "implications": "Thin local finance labor supply raises the real cost and timeline risk of backfilling Controller, FP&A, and senior accounting roles during close and audit cycles, particularly as CFO turnover nationally sits at an 18.3% high and external CFO hiring climbs to 37.5%. Florida's statewide finance sector contraction suggests Palm Coast employers can source experienced finance talent displaced from larger Florida metros, but doing so requires wider geographic sourcing and possibly remote or hybrid flexibility beyond the local commuting radius. Consider evaluating whether current finance role postings reflect a realistic Palm Coast-only labor pool or should be benchmarked against the broader I-95 corridor talent market.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Flagler County's labor force grew to 56,612 in September even as unemployment held at 5.5%, suggesting net in-migration is outpacing local job creation. Watch whether this swells the local finance candidate pool or simply reflects retirees and non-finance job seekers."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Statewide WARN filings reached 215 notices affecting 15,749 workers through October 23, with finance and insurance among the hardest-hit sectors. Monitor whether any Central Florida finance-sector layoffs surface candidates suitable for Palm Coast Controller or FP&A openings."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National CFO turnover at 18.3% and external hiring at 37.5% raise succession risk for Palm Coast's small base of senior finance leaders tied to major local employers. Review internal succession depth for Controller and above before a vacancy forces an off-cycle, premium-priced external search."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "70% of finance and accounting leaders nationally are increasing contract talent use in H2 2026, a shift that could reach Palm Coast's smaller finance teams facing close-cycle staffing gaps. Watch whether contract staffing agencies increase local advertised activity for interim accounting roles."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 80198.25, "metro_p50": 116335.0, "metro_p75": 125525.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 115420.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 76155.0, "metro_p50": 85000.0, "metro_p75": 89549.25, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 87731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Financial Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 71478.0, "metro_p50": 90000.0, "metro_p75": 98573.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 94646.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 37440.0, "metro_p50": 47170.0, "metro_p75": 53961.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 49000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 33036.0, "metro_p50": 40405.4, "metro_p75": 42785.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 69556.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 57801.0, "metro_p50": 74286.4, "metro_p75": 78475.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 71397.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 102954.25, "metro_p50": 120000.0, "metro_p75": 140000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 130000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "FlaglerLive", "source_url": null, "statement": "Flagler County unemployment held at 5.5% in August 2026"}, {"source_name": "Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED)/BLS", "source_url": null, "statement": "Flagler County civilian labor force reached 56,612 in September 2026"}, {"source_name": "Florida Department of Commerce", "source_url": null, "statement": "Florida finance and insurance jobs fell 15,800 over the past year"}, {"source_name": "Crist|Kolder Associates", "source_url": null, "statement": "CFO turnover projected at 18.3% in 2026, external hiring rate 37.5%"}, {"source_name": "Florida WARN Act tracker", "source_url": null, "statement": "215 WARN notices filed statewide affecting 15,749 employees through Oct. 23"}, {"source_name": "Robert Half / AFP FP&A Forum", "source_url": null, "statement": "70% of finance and accounting leaders increasing contract talent use in H2 2026"}], "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": "palm-coast-fl-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "pdf": "palm-coast-fl-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:27:58.358670+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/palm-coast-fl-msa/finance/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/palm-coast-fl-msa/finance/2026-10.pdf"}