Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA MSA — October 2026
Metro unemployment climbs past state average as finance sector cools.
Des Moines-West Des Moines unemployment rose to 3.7% in August from a 2.5% April low, well above Iowa's steady 3.2% statewide rate, as a Wells Fargo WARN notice for 86 Jordan Creek workers underscored financial-sector softening amid record healthcare and construction employment.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 3.7% — Up from 2.5% in April; vs. 3.2% Iowa statewide
- Iowa labor force participation: 66.9% — Down from 67.8% a year ago
- Wells Fargo Iowa layoffs (2026 total): 460 workers — Includes 86 at West Des Moines Jordan Creek campus
- Statewide open positions: 60,000+ — Persists despite steady 3.2% unemployment rate
Key takeaways
Metro unemployment is rising faster than the state's.
Des Moines-West Des Moines climbed to 3.7% unemployment in August from 2.5% in April, while Iowa's statewide rate held flat at 3.2% for five straight months. Divergence suggests metro-specific softening, concentrated in finance and professional services, a distinction that matters for how local officials frame the area's economic story to press and investors.
Workforce participation is the number to watch.
Iowa's labor force participation fell to 66.9% from 67.8% a year ago, with the steepest exits among workers aged 45-54. A tight unemployment rate paired with shrinking participation signals that 60,000-plus open positions statewide reflect availability constraints as much as hiring weakness — a distinction relevant to any economic development pitch built on workforce depth.
Wells Fargo's layoff is a sector signal.
The 86-worker WARN notice at Jordan Creek brings the bank's Iowa layoffs to 460 for the year, consistent with national financial-activities softness (-7,000 jobs nationally in September). Isolated against otherwise record healthcare and construction employment, it reads as sector-driven consolidation within an economy still adding jobs overall.
Wage gains outpace inflation only in specific metro roles.
Registered nurse pay (+significant, $110,604) and marketing specialist pay (+significant, $72,371) are rising well ahead of the 3.5-3.7% CPI pace, while national median weekly earnings grew just 1.5% against that same inflation backdrop. Uneven wage momentum across the local job basket suggests consumer spending power is strengthening in healthcare- and professional-services-adjacent households more than elsewhere in the metro.
Median advertised pay by role — Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $26,000 | $31,200 | $34,320 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $25,954 | $31,200 | $32,760 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $33,673 | $37,440 | $41,600 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $57,200 | $76,500 | $88,000 | Moderate decline | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $28,927 | $37,440 | $43,680 | Significant increase | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $37,440 | $45,000 | $47,840 | Moderate increase | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $57,358 | $68,640 | $77,373 | Stable | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $34,344 | $37,648 | $39,894 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $34,959 | $40,033 | $43,160 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $30,193 | $32,854 | $34,320 | Moderate increase | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $35,011 | $39,520 | $43,212 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $36,082 | $43,700 | $47,792 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $60,756 | $68,640 | $77,733 | Stable | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $87,239 | $110,604 | $120,632 | Significant increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $112,851 | $140,769 | $154,784 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $94,006 | $130,611 | $142,386 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $59,446 | $67,048 | $74,805 | Moderate increase | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $74,525 | $102,403 | $118,382 | Moderate increase | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $51,405 | $67,500 | $75,330 | Stable | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist | $55,000 | $72,371 | $80,426 | Significant increase | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $64,060 | $94,434 | $101,503 | Moderate increase | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $31,356 | $43,122 | $51,402 | Moderate increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $66,874 | $90,000 | $111,300 | Moderate increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $60,000 | $60,000 | $60,000 | Stable | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $72,024 | $93,467 | $102,844 | 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 | $69,129 | Moderate decline | Stable |
| Manufacturing | $100,621 | Significant increase | Moderate increase |
| Retail Trade | $40,352 | Moderate increase | Stable |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $60,101 | Moderate increase | Significant decline |
| Information | $144,667 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $98,500 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $87,634 | Significant increase | Moderate increase |
| Education & Health Services | $80,642 | Significant increase | Stable |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $33,862 | Stable | Moderate decline |
| Government | $65,422 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
Local market conditions
West Des Moines sits inside a metro economy that cooled modestly through the third quarter — the Des Moines-West Des Moines unemployment rate rose to 3.7% in August from an April low of 2.5%, even as Iowa's statewide rate held at 3.2% for a fifth straight month, underscoring that the capital metro is softening faster than the state around it. Healthcare and construction employment hit all-time highs statewide while a Wells Fargo WARN notice affecting 86 workers at its Jordan Creek campus in West Des Moines — the bank's largest Iowa filing since 2022 — signals that financial-services consolidation is the dominant local disruption this month.
What it means
Metro employment conditions point to a two-speed local economy: healthcare, construction and advertised-pay growth in registered nursing (+ significant, $110,604 metro median) and marketing specialist roles (+ significant, $72,371) signal real expansion capacity, while financial-activities softness — illustrated by the Wells Fargo filing — suggests commercial real estate and office-dependent services should brace for continued consolidation. Iowa's falling labor force participation rate (66.9%, down from 67.8% a year ago, driven by 45-54 year-old exits) is arguably the more consequential story for commerce leaders, since it points to a shrinking available workforce base even as job openings exceed 60,000 statewide. Civic and economic development leaders should consider whether workforce participation is the more useful local indicator to track and communicate when assessing the metro's capacity to support new investment or expansion announcements.
Looking ahead
Expected data release: BLS releases full October metro-level employment figures in mid-November, which will confirm whether the August uptick to 3.7% unemployment continued or reversed. This is the first data point that will show whether metro softening is a trend or a single-quarter blip.
Emerging pressure point: Financial-activities employment nationally fell by 7,000 jobs in September, and the Wells Fargo Jordan Creek filing fits that pattern. Watch whether other West Des Moines-based financial and insurance employers file additional WARN notices before year-end, which would confirm sector-wide consolidation.
Worth watching: Iowa's Q2 2026 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data, released October 30 by Iowa Workforce Development, offers county-level detail not yet folded into metro headlines. Polk County wage and employment figures in that release will sharpen the picture of whether West Des Moines specifically is outperforming or lagging the broader metro.
Potential inflection point: Labor force participation among workers aged 45-54 has dropped sharply statewide. If that trend persists into November data, it raises a structural question for commerce leaders and economic developers about whether workforce depth claims in site-selection pitches still hold up.
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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