Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · WA NONMETROPOLITAN AREA · 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
Washington lost approximately 14,500 jobs in September 2026
Washington Employment Security Department — Statement from labor economist Paul Turek
Washington state unemployment rate of 4.9% in August 2026
Bureau of Labor Statistics — State unemployment data
Local Economic Conditions
Gilbert Orchards and Sundquist Fruit WARN notices and worker counts
Washington Employment Security Department — WARN Act notice filings, September 2026
Washington wage growth of 3.1% vs inflation of 3.5%
Washington Employment Security Department — Statewide wage and inflation comparison, September 2026
Looking Ahead
September county-level data release expected around October 20
Washington Employment Security Department — ESD publication schedule
National payroll growth of 29,000 in September with downward revisions
Bureau of Labor Statistics — National employment situation report, September 2026
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