Labor Market Pulse · Human Resources · September 2026
Human Resources Labor Market Report: Florence, SC MSA — September 2026
Florence jobs flat, wages swing 15% — a supply story, not growth.
Florence MSA employment slipped to 96,200 even as average weekly wages jumped 15.3% year-over-year to $903.56, pointing to a shrinking labor pool rather than expanding demand.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Florence MSA employment: 96,200 — Down 400 jobs YoY, 200 MoM (June 2026)
- Florence average weekly wage: $903.56 — +15.3% YoY, -1.2% MoM (June 2026)
- Florence County unemployment: 4.6% — Down from 4.8% metro rate a year earlier
- SC statewide wage growth: 4.0% — vs Florence's single-month volatility pattern
Key takeaways
Flat job count masks a tightening, not a slowdown.
Florence MSA employment fell 400 jobs year-over-year while unemployment ticked down to 4.6% in July, indicating labor supply is shrinking faster than labor demand. Workforce planning should assume candidate scarcity persists even without headline job growth.
Wage volatility is the real story this month.
A 15.3% year-over-year jump in average weekly wages alongside a 1.2% monthly decline points to a thin, sector-sensitive labor market where pay data swings on composition shifts, not steady broad-based growth. Treat single-month wage figures cautiously when setting pay ranges.
Transportation and warehousing is the growth sector to benchmark against.
Projected growth of 42.9% in transportation and warehousing employment (9,116 to 13,030) suggests this sector will absorb a disproportionate share of local hiring competition. Compensation strategy for logistics-adjacent roles may need to move ahead of statewide averages rather than track them.
Recruiter pay diverging sharply from national trend is a local signal worth probing.
Metro advertised pay for Recruiter roles is down moderately while the national median is up moderately — an unusual local divergence that may reflect softer internal talent acquisition demand even as the broader market still competes for recruiting talent. Worth checking whether this reflects genuine demand softness or a thin local posting sample.
Median advertised pay by role — Florence, SC MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation Analyst * | $69,856 | $100,414 | $111,217 | Significant increase | $101,727 |
| HR Business Partner | $53,843 | $76,486 | $82,500 | Significant increase | $83,766 |
| Benefits Manager * | $78,500 | $107,200 | $121,595 | Moderate decline | $117,888 |
| HRIS Analyst * | $82,796 | $97,578 | $104,000 | Significant increase | $97,555 |
| HR Coordinator | $42,196 | $49,541 | $57,359 | Significant increase | $50,000 |
| Recruiter | $39,076 | $53,559 | $67,910 | Moderate decline | $68,167 |
| Payroll Specialist | $47,931 | $50,212 | $54,449 | Significant increase | $59,855 |
* 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
Local market conditions
Florence MSA employment held essentially flat at 96,200 in June 2026, down 400 jobs year-over-year, even as the county unemployment rate tightened to 4.6% by July — a signal of labor supply contraction rather than hiring expansion. Average weekly wages jumped 15.3% year-over-year to $903.56 despite a 1.2% monthly dip, a volatility pattern consistent with a smaller, less liquid metro labor market reacting to sector-specific shifts in transportation, warehousing, and healthcare rather than broad-based demand.
What it means
Flat headline employment alongside sharp wage volatility suggests Florence employers are competing harder for a shrinking pool of workers rather than adding net new roles, which should push HR leaders toward retention and internal mobility strategies over aggressive external hiring. Projected 42.9% growth in transportation and warehousing employment signals where future wage pressure will concentrate, while the absence of major WARN activity or plant announcements this month points to a market in consolidation rather than disruption. Consider reviewing compensation structures for transportation, logistics, and healthcare roles now, ahead of the demand curve rather than in reaction to it.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: September 2026 metro unemployment data has not yet been released; watch for whether the July 4.6% rate holds or continues the downward trend seen since 2025, which would confirm a genuine supply squeeze rather than a one-month anomaly.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide manufacturing WARN activity (10 notices, 870 employees in 2026 YTD) combined with the February Koppers Inc. notice in Florence suggests manufacturing talent may be entering the local candidate pool. Monitor whether displaced manufacturing workers shift into logistics or healthcare roles locally.
Potential inflection point: Transportation and warehousing's projected growth trajectory has not yet shown up in a hiring surge locally. A confirmed uptick in postings or wage acceleration in this sector over the next two months would mark the start of sustained local wage pressure.
Early indicator: Statewide wage growth (4.0% year-over-year) continues to outpace Florence's single-month wage swings; watch for Q3 2026 BLS weekly wage data to confirm whether Florence is converging toward or diverging from the state trend.
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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