{"schema_version": 1, "id": "racine-wi-msa/finance/2026-08", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 381, "label": "Racine, WI MSA", "slug": "racine-wi-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "finance", "slug": "finance", "label": "Finance"}, "period": "2026-08", "public_after": "2026-08-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T16:26:34.531485+00:00", "headline": "Racine jobs shrink, but finance hiring stays tight and uneven.", "headline_summary": "Racine-Mount Pleacea nonfarm employment fell 0.5% year-over-year through January while county unemployment held at 3.3% in May, and metro FP&A Manager pay rose to $112,155 even as Financial Analyst pay dropped to $69,526.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Racine MSA nonfarm employment", "value": "77,300 (Jan 2026)", "context": "Down 0.5% year-over-year"}, {"label": "Racine County unemployment", "value": "3.3%", "context": "May 2026, vs 4.1% national"}, {"label": "Manufacturing job losses, metro", "value": "-8,600", "context": "Since January 2025"}, {"label": "Wisconsin median hourly wage", "value": "$26.17", "context": "Record high, real terms 2015-2025"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Metro job losses aren't loosening the finance talent pool.", "body": "Racine-Mount Pleasant nonfarm payrolls dropped 0.5% year-over-year through January 2026, driven almost entirely by an 8,600-job manufacturing decline, while county unemployment sat near 3.3% in May \u2014 a level consistent with continued difficulty filling skilled roles. Controllers budgeting for easier hiring based on headline job losses should reassess that assumption."}, {"headline": "FP&A Manager pay is diverging sharply from the rest of the metro.", "body": "Metro FP&A Manager advertised pay rose significantly to $112,155, moving against the grain of a metro where Financial Analyst and Credit Analyst pay both declined. This appears to reflect employer willingness to pay up for forecasting and planning talent even as demand cools for adjacent analyst roles \u2014 a signal worth testing against internal FP&A retention risk."}, {"headline": "Statewide wage inflation may not match what Racine employers are actually posting.", "body": "Wisconsin's 4.3% wage growth in 2025 and record $26.17 median hourly wage suggest a hot statewide market, yet four of seven finance roles tracked in the Racine metro show declining advertised pay this month. Budget assumptions built on state or national wage trends risk overstating local compensation pressure for several finance functions."}, {"headline": "Tax Specialist pay is climbing fastest \u2014 a possible compliance-season signal.", "body": "Metro Tax Specialist advertised pay rose significantly to $62,370, tracking a similarly significant national increase to $66,725. Consistent upward movement at both levels is consistent with sustained demand for compliance and technical tax capacity, a role class Finance leaders may want to benchmark ahead of year-end planning rather than during it."}], "local_conditions": "Racine-Mount Pleasant MSA nonfarm employment fell to 77,300 in January 2026, down 0.5% year-over-year, with manufacturing shedding 8,600 jobs since January 2025 even as county unemployment held near a historically tight 3.3% in May 2026. Structural forces are pulling in opposite directions \u2014 a shrinking manufacturing base is offsetting labor supply tightness driven by low participation slack, leaving Finance leaders to plan headcount costs against a metro that is contracting in jobs while remaining difficult to hire into.", "implications": "Contracting nonfarm employment alongside sustained low unemployment signals a labor market where headcount reductions in manufacturing are not translating into easier recruiting for finance and accounting roles \u2014 the available talent pool remains thin even as total jobs decline, a mismatch that complicates both cost forecasting and staffing plans for close and audit cycles. Wisconsin's 4.3% wage growth in 2025 and record $26.17 median hourly wage add pressure to benefits accruals and total compensation budgets at a time when metro-level advertised pay for several finance roles is actually softening, creating a gap between statewide wage inflation assumptions and what the local market is actually paying. Consider reviewing FP&A and controller-level compensation benchmarks against metro-specific advertised pay rather than statewide averages before finalizing Q4 budget cycle headcount cost assumptions.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Manufacturing job losses in Racine have run for over a year (8,600 jobs since January 2025); watch whether displaced manufacturing workers begin appearing in finance-adjacent applicant pools for billing, credit, or entry-level accounting roles over the next two months."}, {"category": "Expected", "body": "August national data (September BLS release) will offer the first read on whether Racine's job contraction accelerated or stabilized through summer 2026 \u2014 a key input for Q4 headcount cost forecasts and any planned finance team backfills."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Metro-level declines in Controller, Financial Analyst, Credit Analyst, and Billing Specialist advertised pay contrast with national stability or growth in those same roles; sustained divergence over the next quarter could indicate Racine-specific demand softening rather than short-term noise."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Wisconsin's statewide job count has trended below its November 2024 peak since January 2025 even as national employment grew; a continued gap between state and national trajectories through the fall would sharpen the case for metro-specific rather than statewide compensation benchmarking."}], "roles": [{"role": "Controller", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 94715.5, "metro_p50": 118770.0, "metro_p75": 124650.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 112500.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Senior Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 64398.25, "metro_p50": 83922.0, "metro_p75": 85133.25, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 87731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Financial Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 68979.5, "metro_p50": 69525.6, "metro_p75": 78183.5, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 82905.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Billing Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 36748.0, "metro_p50": 42515.0, "metro_p75": 43680.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 49700.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Tax Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 41135.0, "metro_p50": 62370.0, "metro_p75": 77820.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 66725.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Credit Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 52941.0, "metro_p50": 65134.4, "metro_p75": 70000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 72000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "FP&A Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 92126.0, "metro_p50": 112155.0, "metro_p75": 112155.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 127341.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [], "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": "September 2026", "files": {"html": "racine-wi-msa/finance/2026-08.html", "pdf": "racine-wi-msa/finance/2026-08.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T16:35:30.583049+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/racine-wi-msa/finance/2026-08.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/racine-wi-msa/finance/2026-08.pdf"}