Scranton metro unemployment edges above the national rate
4.7%
Metro unemployment rate
vs 4.1%-4.2% national rate, July 2026
5.0%
Luzerne County unemployment
September 2026, above metro average
6,252,900
PA nonfarm payrolls
17th consecutive record-high month statewide
$66,000 metro
HVAC Technician advertised pay
down significantly vs $70,720 national, rising
This Month's Takeaways
01
Metro unemployment sits above the national rate for the first time this cycle.
Scranton–Wilkes-Barre's 4.7% reading and Luzerne County's 5.0% compare against a national rate holding at 4.1%-4.2%, a reversal from Pennsylvania's typical below-average positioning. Local economic development messaging should account for this gap rather than lean on the state's historical advantage.
02
Healthcare and logistics remain the metro's load-bearing sectors.
Registered Nurse pay rose moderately to a $98,948 metro median and Data Engineer pay climbed to $138,933, both outpacing softer categories, consistent with statewide health-and-education job growth of 36,000 positions since August 2025. Geisinger's regional footprint and the metro's distribution-hub role appear to be absorbing broader softness elsewhere.
03
Skilled-trade pay softness bucks the national tightening story.
HVAC Technician advertised pay fell significantly to $66,000 locally even as the national median rose to $70,720, and Electrician pay held flat against a national increase. Divergence this sharp from national trade-labor tightening may signal softer local construction and remodeling demand rather than an adequately supplied trade pipeline.
04
Office and marketing-adjacent roles show the clearest local cooling.
Administrative Assistant, Marketing Specialist, and Business Analyst advertised pay all declined moderately-to-significantly in the metro while national figures for the same roles rose, a pattern consistent with Pennsylvania's broader financial-activities and information-sector job losses. Commerce leaders evaluating back-office or professional-services investment should weigh this local softness against the healthier clinical and logistics signals.
Local Economic Conditions
Scranton–Wilkes-Barre metro unemployment held near 4.7% through mid-2026 while Luzerne County ran slightly hotter at 5.0% in September, tracking a statewide pattern of record nonfarm job totals paired with slowing monthly momentum. Advertised pay across the metro's basket skews toward stability or decline in retail, administrative, and skilled-trade categories even as healthcare wages and data/analytics roles post gains, pointing to a labor market holding steady in aggregate but splitting by sector underneath.
Open Threads in the Data
Divergence between resilient healthcare and public-sector wage activity and softening pay in administrative, retail, and skilled-trade categories suggests the metro's economic momentum is uneven rather than broadly accelerating or contracting. Commerce leaders weighing expansion or investment timing should treat distribution, healthcare, and logistics as the metro's stabilizing anchors, while treating retail- and office-adjacent softness as a signal of constrained consumer and administrative spending. Consider evaluating sector-specific momentum before drawing metro-wide conclusions from any single industry's data.
Advertised Pay Indicators · WageScape Benchmark 25 Jobs
Job postings data for the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA 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 |
$28,365 |
→ Stable |
2,372 |
| Retail Cashier |
$28,080 |
↓ Moderate decline |
657 |
Transportation & Warehousing
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate |
$37,186 |
→ Stable |
1,324 |
| CDL Truck Driver |
$81,380 |
→ Stable |
5,443 |
| Delivery Driver |
$35,016 |
↓ Moderate decline |
1,456 |
| Warehouse Manager |
$74,000 |
↑ Moderate increase |
52 |
Construction
| Construction Laborer |
$43,621 |
→ Stable |
206 |
Construction/Skilled Trades
| Electrician |
$70,566 |
→ Stable |
378 |
| HVAC Technician |
$66,000 |
↓ Significant decline |
71 |
Manufacturing
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler |
$34,701 |
→ Stable |
449 |
Cross-Sector
| Customer Service Representative |
$35,360 |
→ Stable |
435 |
| Operations Manager |
$82,960 |
→ Stable |
190 |
Leisure & Hospitality
| Food Service Worker |
$30,160 |
↓ Moderate decline |
150 |
Healthcare
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide |
$37,099 |
↓ Moderate decline |
1,685 |
| Registered Nurse |
$98,948 |
↑ Moderate increase |
3,586 |
Admin/Office Support
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk |
$38,085 |
↓ Moderate decline |
372 |
Information/Technology
| Software Engineer |
$114,325 |
↓ Significant decline |
44 |
| Data Engineer |
$138,933 |
↑ Moderate increase |
13 |
Professional & Business Services
| Accountant |
$61,704 |
→ Stable |
108 |
| HR Generalist/Manager |
$66,280 |
↓ Moderate decline |
54 |
| Marketing Specialist |
$49,984 |
↓ Significant decline |
14 |
| Business Analyst |
$77,022 |
↓ Moderate decline |
53 |
Finance & Insurance
| Financial Analyst |
$93,872 |
↑ Significant increase |
43 |
Government/Education
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher |
$46,788 |
↑ Significant increase |
1,323 |
Cross-Sector Sales
| Account Manager |
$80,199 |
↑ Moderate increase |
413 |
Industry Snapshot · Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA 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 |
↑ +14.3% |
↑ +122.7% |
| Manufacturing |
↑ +17.4% |
↑ +215.8% |
| Retail Trade |
→ +0.7% |
↑ +92.1% |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities |
↑ +8.0% |
↑ +169.0% |
| Information |
↓ −14.2% |
↓ −13.9% |
| Financial Activities |
→ +2.7% |
↑ +87.8% |
| Professional & Business Services |
↓ −5.3% |
↑ +56.3% |
| Education & Health Services |
↑ +6.0% |
↑ +83.3% |
| Leisure & Hospitality |
↓ −6.7% |
↑ +112.9% |
| Government |
↑ +79.9% |
↑ +819.8% |
Looking Ahead · Next 30–60 Days
Worth watching
Luzerne County's unemployment rate has been running above the metro-wide figure; whether this gap widens or closes over the next two monthly reports will indicate if softness is spreading beyond one county.
Early indicator
Software Engineer advertised pay fell significantly in the metro while national pay held stable, worth tracking alongside any announced technology-sector facility changes in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre corridor over the next 60 days.
Potential inflection point
Pennsylvania's House-passed minimum wage bill (H.B. 2189) remains stalled in the Senate; any movement would carry disproportionate weight in a metro where Retail Cashier and Food Service Worker pay already sit near or below $28,000-$30,000.
Expected
National WARN filings concentrated in logistics, retail, and manufacturing nationally make the metro's Amazon- and Kane Is Able-anchored distribution sector a reasonable one to monitor for any filing activity in the state's WARN registry.
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.
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