Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA MSA · October 2026
Every advertised-pay, job-posting and industry figure in this briefing comes from WageScape's own database of active job postings. The sources below back the external facts cited in the written analysis.
Sources cited in this report
Key Indicators
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA unemployment rate at 4.9% in August 2026
Bureau of Labor Statistics — Local area unemployment statistics, August 2026
This Month's Takeaways
Regional nonfarm employment grew 1.7% since 2024 vs ~25% in Austin
Regional economic analysis (KVI/BLS compilation) — Metro employment growth comparison, October 2026
Local Economic Conditions
Seattle lost 18,605 jobs since 2024 while Bellevue gained 5,375 and Tacoma gained 662
KVI News — Reporting on intra-metro employment shifts, October 2026
Total compensation costs rose 4.0% year-over-year in Seattle-Tacoma MSA through June 2026
Bureau of Labor Statistics — Employment Cost Index, metropolitan area data
Looking Ahead
Amazon filed WARN notice for 2,198 job cuts across Bellevue and Redmond
Washington Employment Security Department — WARN Act notice filed January 30, 2026
Washington lost approximately 14,500 jobs in September 2026
Washington Employment Security Department — Statement from labor economist Paul Turek
How the numbers are calculated
- Advertised pay is the median of the pay ranges employers publish in active job postings in this metro. It is not survey or payroll data.
- Percent changes compare the latest six full months with the six months before that, for the same metro and sector.
- Sectors group postings by the employer's industry (NAICS) classification into ten sectors. Where a metro has too few postings in a sector, the state figure is used instead.
- Role pay trends use the same comparison windows. "Stable" means a change of less than 3%; "moderate" 3–10%; "significant" more than 10%.
Official data for comparison