Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · WV 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
Statewide unemployment rate at 4.0% in August 2026, down from 4.3% year-ago
Joint Economic Committee — Monthly WV labor market release, Sept 18 2026
This Month's Takeaways
Average weekly wage rose 3.4% to $1,188, ranking WV 50th in wage level
Bureau of Labor Statistics — QCEW Q1 2026 state wage data
Mining-sector WARN notices at ECM Energy Services, Eagle Horizon Resources, Felman Production
UseFootnote — WARN Act notice tracking, WV, through Aug 19 2026
Local Economic Conditions
County unemployment range from 3.1% (Pendleton) to 10.7% (McDowell), June 2026
USA Facts / BLS — County-level unemployment data compilation
WV labor force participation at 54.5%, lowest nationally
West Virginia Chamber of Commerce — State workforce participation analysis
Looking Ahead
U.S. added just 29,000 jobs in September, below 45,000 trailing average
Bureau of Labor Statistics — National nonfarm payroll employment report
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