Seattle flatlines region-wide while Bellevue quietly pulls ahead.
4.9%
Metro unemployment rate
vs 4.2% national, 4.5% Washington state
-18,605 vs +5,375
Seattle vs. Bellevue job shift
Jobs lost/gained since 2024, same metro
4.0%
Metro compensation cost growth
YoY through June 2026, vs 3.4% national
1.7%
Regional employment growth since 2022
vs ~25% Austin, ~14% Dallas-Fort Worth/Nashville
This Month's Takeaways
01
Seattle's job losses and Bellevue's gains are not the same story.
Seattle shed 18,605 jobs since 2024 while Bellevue added 5,375 and Tacoma gained 662, pointing to an intra-metro reallocation of economic activity rather than a region-wide contraction. Economic development framing built on metro-wide averages risks masking which jurisdictions are actually gaining ground.
02
Regional growth has fallen far behind peer metros.
Nonfarm employment rose just 1.7% regionally since 2024, compared with roughly 25% in Austin and 14% in Dallas-Fort Worth and Nashville. That gap is a more consequential signal for long-run competitiveness than any single month's job count.
03
Pay is rising faster locally than wages can keep up with prices.
Private-industry compensation costs climbed 4.0% year-over-year in the metro through June, above the national 3.4% and state's 3.1%, yet statewide inflation near 3.5% still erodes real purchasing power. Elevated nominal compensation growth coexisting with flat job counts points to a market rewarding scarce specialized skill rather than broad-based expansion.
04
Healthcare and education are the metro's steadiest sectors right now.
Washington's education and health services sector added 10,300 jobs statewide even as retail lost 4,700 and information technology lost 3,200 year-over-year. For a metro anchored by tech and aerospace, that shift toward healthcare-driven stability is a notable change in the composition of local economic activity.
Local Economic Conditions
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue employment has gone essentially flat since 2022, with the metro losing an average 550 jobs monthly in 2026 even as Bellevue added 5,375 jobs and Tacoma gained 662 since 2024 — a geographic redistribution rather than a uniform downturn. Total compensation costs rose 4.0% year-over-year through June, outpacing both the national 3.4% figure and statewide wage growth of 3.1%, even as the metro's 4.9% unemployment rate sits above the national 4.2% reading.
Open Threads in the Data
Divergence between Seattle proper's job losses and Bellevue's gains suggests commercial investment and site-selection decisions increasingly hinge on sub-metro geography rather than metro-wide conditions, a pattern worth factoring into any assessment of where local economic momentum actually sits. Elevated compensation growth alongside flat headcount is consistent with an economy still paying up for specialized technical and clinical talent while broader job creation stalls, a combination that complicates any simple read on whether the business climate here is expanding or contracting. Civic and commerce leaders should consider tracking job growth and compensation trends at the city level, not just the metro level, before drawing conclusions about overall economic trajectory.
Advertised Pay Indicators · WageScape Benchmark 25 Jobs
Job postings data for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 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 |
$41,600 |
→ Stable |
14,529 |
| Retail Cashier |
$39,520 |
→ Stable |
6,581 |
Transportation & Warehousing
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate |
$44,855 |
→ Stable |
4,332 |
| CDL Truck Driver |
$74,565 |
↑ Moderate increase |
14,230 |
| Delivery Driver |
$45,760 |
↑ Moderate increase |
10,378 |
| Warehouse Manager |
$75,000 |
↑ Significant increase |
19 |
Construction
| Construction Laborer |
$49,920 |
→ Stable |
711 |
Construction/Skilled Trades
| Electrician |
$83,200 |
↑ Significant increase |
2,490 |
| HVAC Technician |
$81,120 |
↑ Moderate increase |
411 |
Manufacturing
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler |
$46,800 |
↓ Moderate decline |
3,721 |
Cross-Sector
| Customer Service Representative |
$44,505 |
→ Stable |
4,298 |
| Operations Manager |
$100,249 |
↓ Significant decline |
47 |
Leisure & Hospitality
| Food Service Worker |
$44,720 |
↓ Moderate decline |
500 |
Healthcare
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide |
$50,773 |
→ Stable |
8,855 |
| Registered Nurse |
$116,615 |
↑ Moderate increase |
19,579 |
Admin/Office Support
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk |
$51,750 |
↑ Moderate increase |
5,902 |
Information/Technology
| Software Engineer |
$171,720 |
↑ Moderate increase |
23,150 |
| Data Engineer |
$145,954 |
↑ Moderate increase |
7,293 |
Professional & Business Services
| Accountant |
$75,920 |
↑ Moderate increase |
6,402 |
| HR Generalist/Manager |
$83,567 |
↑ Significant increase |
1,193 |
| Marketing Specialist |
$64,564 |
→ Stable |
1,165 |
| Business Analyst |
$103,909 |
↑ Moderate increase |
4,014 |
Finance & Insurance
| Financial Analyst |
$101,200 |
↑ Moderate increase |
3,049 |
Government/Education
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher |
$61,911 |
↑ Moderate increase |
22,210 |
Cross-Sector Sales
| Account Manager |
$101,013 |
↑ Significant increase |
9,029 |
Industry Snapshot · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 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 |
↑ +8.6% |
↑ +16.3% |
| Manufacturing |
↑ +16.2% |
↓ −7.5% |
| Retail Trade |
↑ +18.4% |
↑ +24.3% |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities |
↓ −9.3% |
↓ −9.7% |
| Information |
↑ +19.7% |
↓ −29.5% |
| Financial Activities |
↑ +10.8% |
↓ −21.4% |
| Professional & Business Services |
→ −1.8% |
↓ −8.4% |
| Education & Health Services |
↑ +14.1% |
↑ +16.4% |
| Leisure & Hospitality |
→ 0.0% |
↑ +15.5% |
| Government |
↑ +24.9% |
↓ −12.5% |
Looking Ahead · Next 30–60 Days
Worth watching
Whether Bellevue's job gains continue to outpace Seattle's losses in coming months will clarify whether this is a durable geographic shift in the metro's center of economic gravity or a temporary artifact of a few large relocations.
Emerging pressure point
Washington state WARN filings remain concentrated in tech, fulfillment, and manufacturing, with Amazon's 2,198-position cut across Bellevue and Redmond the largest single notice in 2026. Track whether released workers reappear in new local postings or leave the region entirely, a signal for local consumer spending capacity.
Potential inflection point
National payroll growth slowed sharply to 29,000 in September with downward revisions to July and August, while Washington lost roughly 14,500 jobs the same month. If the state's 'low hire, low fire' pattern persists through year-end, local business investment decisions may increasingly hinge on cost stability rather than growth expectations.
Early indicator
Healthcare sector WARN activity, including MultiCare's 138-worker notice, is an unusual signal in a sector that has otherwise been a stabilizing force statewide. A second consecutive month of healthcare-sector layoff notices would mark a meaningful shift in the metro's most reliable job-creating industry.
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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