Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Glens Falls, NY MSA — October 2026
Glens Falls jobs shrink as its jobless rate stays low
Glens Falls MSA employment fell 1.2% year-over-year through July and lost another 300 jobs in September even as unemployment held at 3.4%, a combination pointing to a shrinking labor force rather than economic strength.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro nonfarm employment change: -1.2% YoY — July 2026, 56,000 total jobs
- Metro unemployment rate: 3.4% — July 2026, vs 4.1% national
- September job loss: -300 jobs — Extends 2025 average of -50/month
- Saratoga County unemployment: 3.2% — August 2026, near MSA average
Key takeaways
Low unemployment is hiding a shrinking labor force.
Glens Falls civilian labor force has trended downward since late 2025 even as the jobless rate held near 3.4%, a combination that typically reflects workers leaving the labor force even as job creation stays weak. Government economists and chambers should weigh labor-force participation alongside the headline rate when assessing whether the metro can support new business investment.
Manufacturing pay gains outrun the metro's job count.
Manufacturing Production Worker advertised pay rose to $42,689 (moderate increase, above the $39,520 national median), even as the broader metro lost jobs on net through 2026. Pay strength in a sector facing a shrinking available workforce is consistent with employers competing for a scarcer pool more than expanding headcount.
CDL driver and logistics pay point to freight-dependent momentum.
CDL Truck Driver pay rose moderately to a $82,065 metro median, well above the $78,872 national figure, and Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate pay also climbed moderately to $41,512. Sustained advertised-pay strength in freight and logistics roles, set against an otherwise contracting metro job count, suggests transportation and distribution activity is one of few local sectors still generating demand.
Professional-services pay surges look like a small-sample story.
Accountant ($85,088, significant increase) and Business Analyst ($94,037, significant increase) advertised pay jumped sharply this month, both well above national medians. In a metro of roughly 56,000 nonfarm jobs, a handful of job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), can move these figures meaningfully, so commerce leaders should treat single-month swings in small occupational categories with caution.
Median advertised pay by role — Glens Falls, NY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $32,248 | $33,328 | $35,000 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $33,280 | $35,360 | $37,440 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $37,440 | $41,512 | $42,000 | Moderate increase | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $59,280 | $82,065 | $90,215 | Moderate increase | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $31,689 | $34,512 | $39,391 | Stable | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $40,560 | $44,720 | $44,720 | Stable | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $57,200 | $69,049 | $73,079 | Moderate decline | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $36,920 | $42,689 | $43,680 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $37,440 | $40,880 | $41,600 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $33,610 | $34,528 | $34,996 | Stable | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $37,432 | $42,120 | $44,200 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $40,560 | $46,800 | $51,222 | Moderate increase | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician * | $59,000 | $69,697 | $75,920 | Moderate increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $92,000 | $110,107 | $121,063 | Moderate increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $114,629 | $150,307 | $213,481 | Significant decline | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,179 | $141,076 | $159,241 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $72,890 | $85,088 | $90,500 | Significant increase | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst * | $72,270 | $92,221 | $101,623 | Stable | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $67,262 | $75,339 | $91,500 | Significant increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $45,127 | $59,170 | $70,338 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $70,618 | $88,240 | $100,600 | Stable | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $35,870 | $48,500 | $60,068 | Stable | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $38,376 | $59,500 | $77,200 | Stable | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $44,913 | $72,172 | $75,063 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $73,419 | $94,037 | $95,626 | Significant 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 | $62,400 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $63,000 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $35,510 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $39,951 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Information | $49,920 | Moderate increase | Moderate increase |
| Financial Activities | $55,593 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $64,000 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $75,879 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $36,400 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $68,931 | Stable | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Glens Falls MSA nonfarm employment fell 1.2% year-over-year through July and shed another 300 jobs in September, extending a contraction that has outpaced the metro's own five-year run rate of roughly 20 net new jobs per month. Even as the metro's 3.4% July unemployment rate sits well below the national 4.1% reading, a shrinking labor force is likely masking the weakness, consistent with the pattern seen statewide where New York's minimum wage increase was frozen after broader job losses triggered the law's employment off-ramp.
What it means
Low unemployment paired with outright job losses signals a labor force that is contracting, a distinction that matters more for permitting, site-selection, and investment-promotion decisions than any single pay figure. Manufacturing, a historically important Glens Falls sector anchored by medical devices production, shows advertised pay gains (Manufacturing Production Worker up to $42,689, moderate increase) that appear to track the national manufacturing employment rebound (+9,000 in September, +72,000 since December) more than local expansion. Commerce leaders and economic development officials should consider treating the metro's low jobless rate as a labor-supply constraint signal when evaluating business attraction or expansion proposals this quarter.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether BLS October MSA-level unemployment and payroll figures, expected with the usual lag, confirm the September 300-job decline or reveal a stabilization. A second consecutive monthly loss would harden the case that the metro is contracting beyond normal seasonal adjustment.
Policy signal to track: New York's statewide minimum wage freeze, triggered by job losses through July, applies uniformly outside NYC/Long Island/Westchester; watch for any state workaround Governor Hochul pursues and whether it differentiates upstate metros like Glens Falls from downstate conditions.
Worth watching: Saratoga County, the metro's largest population and employment base, posted a 3.2% August unemployment rate essentially in line with the MSA overall; divergence between Saratoga and the rest of the metro in coming months would help localize where contraction is concentrated.
Potential inflection point: National manufacturing employment has grown for three straight months after earlier losses; whether that translates into any Glens Falls medical-device or manufacturing payroll growth, beyond pay increases alone, is a test of whether the sector is truly adding jobs locally or simply raising pay for a fixed headcount.
Sources
- USA Facts / Bureau of Labor Statistics — Glens Falls MSA lost 300 jobs in September 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Glens Falls MSA nonfarm employment declined 1.2% year-over-year in July 2026
- Washington Post — New York minimum wage increase frozen after statewide job losses triggered law's off-ramp
- New York State Department of Labor — Saratoga County unemployment rate was 3.2% in August 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Manufacturing added ~9,000 jobs in September, up 72,000 since December 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National unemployment rate stable at 4.1% in October 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.
Free to read and cite with attribution to WageScape. Terms of use.