Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Decatur, AL MSA — October 2026
Decatur holds a wage and jobless edge as Alabama cools
Morgan County's 3.1% unemployment rate continues to run below Alabama's climbing 3.5% statewide figure, even as metro advertised pay splits sharply between a surging $69,559 accountant median and sliding operations-manager and business-analyst pay.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Morgan County unemployment: 3.1% — vs. Alabama's 3.5% statewide (Sept. 2026)
- Alabama unemployment trend: 3.5% — Up from 2.8% a year ago; highest in ~10 years
- Alabama manufacturing wage: $1,389.75/wk — Record high, July 2026
- Metro accountant pay: $69,559 — Up significantly, nearing $72,000 national median
Key takeaways
Decatur's unemployment edge over Alabama is widening.
Morgan County sits roughly 40 basis points below the state's 3.5% rate, a gap that held even as statewide joblessness reached a near-decade high. That divergence is consistent with a metro labor market still anchored by manufacturing demand even as other parts of Alabama cool.
Professional-services pay softness contrasts with trades strength.
Operations manager, business analyst, and financial analyst advertised pay all fell by moderate-to-significant margins locally this month, while electrician and HVAC technician job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), rose. Consistent with national data showing white-collar sectors shedding jobs while skilled trades hold up, this suggests the metro's office-based employers face different pressures than its industrial and trades base.
Accountant pay surge may reflect scarce specialized talent.
Metro accountant pay rose significantly to $69,559, nearly closing the gap with the $72,000 national median, even as most other professional roles in the local basket declined. Isolated gains like this are worth tracking as a possible early signal of localized skill scarcity.
Manufacturing wage records give Decatur a credible investment narrative.
Alabama's manufacturing average weekly wage hit $1,389.75 in July, a record, with Decatur's Nucor anchoring that strength locally. Commerce and economic development officials can point to this wage trajectory as evidence the metro's industrial base remains a wage leader even as national information and financial-services employment contracts.
Median advertised pay by role — Decatur, AL MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $21,628 | $27,572 | $32,240 | Moderate increase | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $22,880 | $25,994 | $27,224 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $30,422 | $33,800 | $36,043 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $56,160 | $78,000 | $85,000 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $30,581 | $32,412 | $34,320 | Significant decline | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $34,423 | $34,865 | $37,440 | Moderate increase | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $54,555 | $64,480 | $73,179 | Moderate increase | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $32,192 | $38,480 | $39,520 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $20,264 | $25,991 | $32,901 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $27,040 | $29,120 | $30,403 | Stable | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $29,120 | $35,963 | $38,991 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $32,240 | $37,440 | $38,480 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $60,623 | $72,500 | $72,500 | Moderate increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $72,619 | $83,720 | $90,677 | Moderate increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer * | $104,079 | $148,031 | $160,000 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,179 | $136,840 | $155,677 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $60,111 | $69,559 | $72,890 | Significant increase | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $61,932 | $69,025 | $77,160 | Significant decline | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $53,606 | $58,085 | $61,640 | Significant decline | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $43,355 | $56,056 | $69,005 | Moderate decline | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $55,900 | $70,072 | $75,737 | Significant decline | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $31,297 | $50,700 | $56,802 | Significant increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $56,852 | $80,000 | $90,306 | Significant increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $43,698 | $57,387 | $77,854 | Moderate decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $82,320 | $91,484 | $94,180 | Moderate decline | $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 | $48,872 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $78,185 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $34,841 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $54,080 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Information | $69,011 | Moderate decline | Significant decline |
| Financial Activities | $49,776 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $42,211 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $54,908 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $31,060 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $66,590 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Morgan County's unemployment rate held near 3.1% in September, well below Alabama's statewide 3.5%, even as the state rate climbed to its highest level in nearly a decade on rising labor force entry. Decatur's manufacturing base, anchored by Nucor, sits inside a state trend of record construction and manufacturing wages, with Alabama manufacturing averaging $1,389.75 weekly in July, suggesting the metro's industrial core continues to outperform the broader state labor market.
What it means
Morgan County's unemployment gap versus the state average signals a labor market still favorable for capital investment and facility expansion relative to much of Alabama, a relevant data point for site-selection conversations and local economic development pitches. Wage divergence across the metro's advertised job basket, however, shows real unevenness: accountant pay rose sharply while operations manager, business analyst, and financial analyst job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), all declined, a pattern consistent with professional-services softness. Commerce leaders and economic development officials should consider framing the metro's pitch around its manufacturing and skilled-trades wage strength as the defining growth story across sectors.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Alabama's statewide unemployment rate has risen for three straight months even as prime-age labor force participation climbed to 79.5%. Watch whether Morgan County's historically tighter labor market begins to show the same participation-driven uptick, which would read as healthy expansion.
Early indicator: Professional-role advertised pay softened broadly across the metro this month (operations manager, business analyst, financial analyst, marketing specialist), measured by job ads, which track demand and often cover several openings each. A second consecutive month of declines across this cluster would be a more meaningful signal of office-sector cooling than any single data point.
Potential inflection point: National WARN filings have surged past 340,000 affected workers year-to-date, concentrated in technology and information-sector employers. Alabama's own WARN activity remains modest, but any new filing touching Decatur-area manufacturing or logistics would mark a departure from the metro's current stability.
Policy-relevant signal: Federal employment is near 1966-era lows nationally, and labor force growth has slowed amid demographic shifts and immigration policy changes. Government economists should track whether Decatur's civilian labor force, currently near 78,000, shows any contraction tied to these national structural trends.
Sources
- Alabama Department of Labor — Morgan County unemployment rate at 3.1% in September 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics / Alabama Department of Labor — Alabama's statewide unemployment rose to 3.5%, highest in nearly a decade
- Alabama Department of Labor — Alabama manufacturing average weekly wage hit $1,389.75 in July 2026
- LayoffAlert / state WARN trackers — National WARN filings total 340,316 affected workers through Oct. 26, 2026
- Alabama Department of Labor — Alabama prime-age labor force participation rose to 79.5%
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National information and professional/business services sectors shed jobs in September
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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