Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Eugene-Springfield, OR MSA — October 2026
Eugene-Springfield jobs shrink as healthcare offsets government losses.
Lane County shed 1,400 jobs over the year to August with unemployment at 5.1%, as a 13.1% drop in job postings and government payroll cuts were partly offset by healthcare wage gains like the $52,728 metro median for nursing aides.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Lane County employment change: -1,400 jobs — Aug 2025–Aug 2026, seasonally adjusted, -1%
- Lane County unemployment rate: 5.1% — vs 4.1% US rate (September 2026)
- Job postings, Eugene-Springfield: -13.1% y/y — Through Q1 2026, signal of softening hiring demand
- Median advertised salary, metro: $58,240 — +1.63% y/y as of March 2026, lagging CPI
Key takeaways
Government contraction is reshaping the metro's economic base.
Government employment fell 2% over the year locally, echoing a statewide drop of 4,000 government jobs tied partly to University of Oregon layoffs reported earlier in 2026. A metro historically anchored by public-sector and university employment losing that ballast is a structural signal for local economic planning.
Healthcare is the one sector absorbing the slack.
Private education and health services gained jobs locally even as trade, finance, and government contracted, mirroring the statewide pattern where health care and social assistance added 12,100 jobs over the year. Certified Nursing Assistant pay rose to a metro median of $52,728, well above the national figure, suggesting the sector is both the local growth engine and a meaningful driver of wage gains.
Job postings falling faster than wages is a caution signal.
Eugene-Springfield job postings — a signal of hiring demand, which often cover several openings each — fell 13.1% year-over-year through Q1 2026, while wages crept up just 1.63% annually. Demand cooling faster than pay is adjusting suggests employers are not yet under pressure to raise pay to fill roles, a sign of slack in the local labor pool.
Construction and skilled trades pay is outperforming the broader metro.
Electrician advertised pay rose to a $90,110 metro median, well above the $71,835 national figure, even as statewide construction added jobs for the first time after losing 400 positions in 2025. Sustained trade-sector wage strength amid overall metro contraction points to continued demand for building and infrastructure work locally.
Median advertised pay by role — Eugene-Springfield, OR MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $28,801 | $34,840 | $38,480 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $31,304 | $33,280 | $34,320 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $33,895 | $37,440 | $40,732 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $60,958 | $77,142 | $85,214 | Moderate increase | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $31,403 | $35,360 | $41,600 | Stable | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $39,520 | $44,720 | $46,862 | Stable | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $59,418 | $90,110 | $91,780 | Moderate increase | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $32,344 | $35,360 | $37,440 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $35,360 | $39,520 | $42,234 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $32,344 | $38,646 | $41,101 | Significant increase | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $45,760 | $52,728 | $55,973 | Moderate increase | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $38,490 | $45,240 | $47,840 | Moderate increase | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $72,800 | $75,920 | $81,120 | Moderate decline | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $91,324 | $109,145 | $117,520 | Stable | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $87,070 | $156,000 | $170,000 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,902 | $140,971 | $156,063 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $58,211 | $72,444 | $79,649 | Moderate increase | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $88,281 | $95,878 | $97,397 | Moderate increase | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $59,233 | $69,000 | $88,837 | Significant increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist | $47,600 | $54,440 | $65,520 | Moderate decline | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $74,251 | $84,722 | $97,466 | Stable | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $37,440 | $62,430 | $69,433 | Moderate increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $72,500 | $97,760 | $112,459 | Significant increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $62,370 | $89,000 | $109,959 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $58,478 | $89,095 | $100,369 | Moderate increase | $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 | $55,011 | Stable | Significant decline |
| Manufacturing | $44,027 | Stable | Stable |
| Retail Trade | $41,102 | Moderate increase | Significant decline |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $62,400 | Moderate increase | Moderate decline |
| Information | $57,737 | Stable | Significant decline |
| Financial Activities | $48,386 | Significant decline | Significant decline |
| Professional & Business Services | $68,994 | Moderate increase | Moderate decline |
| Education & Health Services | $56,455 | Stable | Significant decline |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $34,483 | Stable | Significant decline |
| Government | $66,907 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
Local market conditions
Lane County's seasonally adjusted employment fell 1,400 jobs (-1%) between August 2025 and August 2026, with trade/transportation/utilities, financial activities, and government all contracting while private education and health services expanded. Unemployment held at 5.1% in August, and job postings in Eugene-Springfield dropped 13.1% year-over-year through Q1 2026 even as the median advertised salary rose a modest 1.63% annually to $58,240 — a pattern consistent with an economy where employers are filling positions cautiously, with payrolls holding steady overall.
What it means
Government and financial-sector contraction alongside healthcare and education growth points to a metro economy rebalancing around public-sector and care-sector stability, with private expansion remaining narrow, a dynamic commerce leaders should factor into any read on local consumer demand or investment timing. Advertised pay gains in roles like Certified Nursing Assistant (+moderate) and Elementary/Secondary Teacher (+moderate) suggest wage pressure is concentrated in sectors insulated from the broader slowdown, while Manufacturing Production Worker pay declined and Marketing Specialist pay fell, signaling uneven demand across the basket. Commerce and economic development leaders should track sector-level divergence alongside headline employment figures when assessing whether current conditions support new local investment or expansion decisions.
Looking ahead
Expected data release: Oregon Employment Department publishes October county-level data November 18, which will show whether Lane County's August job losses extended into early fall or began to stabilize.
Emerging pressure point: PacificSource's fourth round of layoffs since September 2025 lands December 31, affecting workers in Springfield alongside Bend, Salem, and Portland. Watch whether health insurance administration losses offset the clinical-care hiring gains driving the sector's overall growth.
Worth watching: University of Oregon and broader local government payrolls bear watching for further reductions, given government's -2% annual contraction locally and a parallel -4,000 statewide; continued softening would weigh on a metro historically reliant on public employment as a stabilizer.
Potential inflection point: Job postings turned up 6.6% quarter-over-quarter statewide in Q1 2026 even while still down 10.4% year-over-year; a similar local rebound in postings data would be the first concrete sign that Eugene-Springfield's hiring demand is bottoming out.
Sources
- Oregon Employment Department — Lane County employment fell 1,400 jobs (-1%) Aug 2025-Aug 2026
- Oregon Business & Industry / Indeed — Eugene-Springfield job postings fell 13.1% year-over-year through Q1 2026
- KLCC — Government job losses tied partly to University of Oregon layoffs
- Oregon WARN Act filing — PacificSource fourth round of layoffs affecting 134 workers Dec. 31
- Oregon Employment Department — Health care and social assistance added 12,100 jobs statewide, +3.8%
- Oregon Employment Department — Lane County unemployment rate at 5.1% in August 2026
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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