Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY MSA — October 2026
Albany holds near full employment as state and nation cool.
Albany and Rensselaer counties posted roughly 3.9% unemployment versus New York State's 4.3% and the national 4.1%, with health services driving most of the metro's modest 0.8% job growth.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Albany/Rensselaer County unemployment: 3.9% — vs 4.3% NY State, 4.1% national (Aug/Sep 2026)
- Metro nonfarm job growth: +4,000 (0.8%) — YoY through Dec 2025, led by health services
- NYC private-sector employment: -16,300 YTD — Contrasts with Albany's modest regional gains
- National real wage growth: 1.5% vs 3.5% CPI — Q3 2026 median weekly earnings vs inflation
Key takeaways
Albany's labor market looks tighter than the state and nation.
County-level unemployment near 3.9% sits below New York's 4.3% and the national 4.1%, suggesting the capital region's public-sector and institutional base is cushioning it from the private-sector contraction weighing on New York City and parts of upstate.
Health services remains the metro's clearest growth engine.
Private education and health services added 3,400 jobs over the most recent year-over-year period, the largest gain of any sector, while advertised Registered Nurse pay rose to $109,279 locally — both consistent with sustained demand in a sector less exposed to national white-collar softening.
Construction and finance softness bears watching.
Construction lost 1,300 jobs and financial activities 600 over the same period — modest in absolute terms but notable given national finance-sector contraction (-7,000) and should be tracked for whether it deepens or stabilizes.
Wage-vs-inflation gap looks narrower locally than nationally.
National median weekly earnings rose 1.5% against 3.5% CPI growth, but several Albany advertised-pay categories — Registered Nurse, Account Manager, Elementary/Secondary Teacher — posted moderate-to-significant increases, suggesting pockets of real wage gains even as the national trend shows erosion.
Median advertised pay by role — Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $32,225 | $33,644 | $36,400 | Moderate decline | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $32,039 | $36,400 | $38,688 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $35,048 | $41,069 | $43,680 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $55,120 | $75,000 | $86,164 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $32,641 | $39,174 | $47,840 | Significant increase | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $37,440 | $43,680 | $46,800 | Moderate increase | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $55,917 | $68,506 | $73,835 | Moderate increase | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $34,509 | $39,520 | $41,666 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $35,360 | $39,704 | $43,680 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $33,448 | $36,400 | $39,031 | Stable | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $36,469 | $41,704 | $44,294 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $38,678 | $46,500 | $50,356 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $62,500 | $71,947 | $80,080 | Moderate increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $88,695 | $109,279 | $119,954 | Significant increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $121,197 | $154,958 | $173,000 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $99,179 | $142,072 | $159,248 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $59,422 | $68,542 | $75,795 | Stable | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $71,895 | $92,250 | $102,336 | Moderate increase | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $55,419 | $73,358 | $83,595 | Significant increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist | $43,369 | $58,875 | $70,677 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $70,618 | $88,240 | $100,600 | Stable | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $41,600 | $59,092 | $63,639 | Moderate increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $64,459 | $98,581 | $120,450 | Significant increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $44,913 | $72,172 | $75,063 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $79,742 | $92,931 | $105,000 | Stable | $98,302 |
* State-level figure shown where metro postings were too few.
WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings (reported as the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay). Download: CSV · JSON
Industry snapshot
| Sector | Median advertised pay | Pay trend | Postings trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | $77,142 | Moderate increase | Stable |
| Manufacturing | $114,279 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
| Retail Trade | $41,163 | Stable | Stable |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $60,060 | Moderate increase | Significant decline |
| Information | $133,291 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
| Financial Activities | $98,688 | Moderate decline | Significant decline |
| Professional & Business Services | $98,261 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
| Education & Health Services | $65,000 | Moderate increase | Significant decline |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $37,511 | Stable | Moderate decline |
| Government | $70,308 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
Local market conditions
Albany-Schenectady-Troy's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate held near 3.9% across Albany and Rensselaer counties in August, well below the national rate of 4.1% and the statewide 4.3%, consistent with a tighter regional labor market tied to the metro's public-sector and institutional health care base. Nonfarm payrolls grew 4,000 year-over-year through December 2025 (0.8%), concentrated in private education and health services (+3,400), while construction (-1,300) and financial activities (-600) contracted — a pattern that diverges from the finance and information-sector pullback now weighing on New York City's job count.
What it means
Metro-level wage data show advertised pay rising for Registered Nurses ($109,279, up significantly), Account Managers, and Warehouse Managers even as Accountant and Software Engineer pay hold flat — a pattern consistent with continued strength in health services and logistics-adjacent demand, with broad-based acceleration not yet evident. Commerce leaders weighing expansion or investment locally should treat Albany's sub-4% unemployment and modest payroll growth as a signal of a stable, low-slack labor market that is holding steady rather than heating up sharply, while government economists may find the construction and financial-activities contraction worth tracking against statewide softness. Current conditions suggest monitoring sector-level wage divergence, particularly health care and logistics pay growth against flat professional-services pay, as an early read on where metro economic momentum is concentrating.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: October 2026 BLS data for the Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA has not yet been released; watch for the next county and metro unemployment update to confirm whether the sub-4% rate held through fall.
Worth watching: New York's statewide minimum wage freeze, triggered by a seven-month employment decline, could affect the metro's lower-wage advertised roles (Retail Sales Associate, Customer Service Representative) differently than in metros without the off-ramp provision.
Potential inflection point: Construction and financial-activities job losses, if they continue beyond the most recent year-over-year window, would mark a shift from a sector-specific dip to a broader pattern worth flagging for regional investment and permitting decisions.
Emerging pressure point: National WARN filings (3,860 notices, 340,316 workers through late October) remain concentrated outside New York State; monitor regional trackers for any uptick specific to the capital region as a leading signal of local labor-market cooling.
Methodology
Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay. WageScape observes 98% of U.S. job openings daily.
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