Labor Market Pulse · Human Resources · September 2026
Human Resources Labor Market Report: Jacksonville, FL MSA — September 2026
Jacksonville's labor market loosens as finance jobs disappear.
Duval County unemployment climbed to 4.9% from 4.2% a year ago while Financial Activities shed 4,000 jobs, even as metro recruiter pay rose and HRIS Analyst pay fell against national trend.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Duval County unemployment: 4.9% — vs 4.2% year-ago, 4.5% Florida statewide
- Metro net job growth (12-mo): +500 jobs (0.1%) — vs Florida's +59,000 (0.6%) statewide
- Financial Activities employment: -4,000 jobs — Year-over-year through June 2026
- Resident employment change: -1.1% (-8,848 persons) — Year-over-year through June 2026
Key takeaways
Jacksonville's labor market is loosening faster than the state average.
Duval County unemployment at 4.9% compares to Florida's 4.5% statewide rate, and local job growth of just 0.1% over the year trails Florida's 0.6% gain. Employers may be regaining hiring leverage locally even as statewide labor shortage narratives persist.
Financial Activities losses point to a quiet restructuring underway.
The sector shed 4,000 jobs over the year even as Professional and Business Services grew 2.0%, suggesting displaced finance and insurance talent may be reabsorbing into adjacent professional roles. Compensation and HRIS leaders in banking-heavy functions should watch for internal mobility and severance planning needs.
Recruiter pay is rising locally even as hiring urgency eases nationally.
Metro recruiter advertised pay is up significantly even as national hires rates fall to a near-recession low of 3.2%, a divergence that may reflect Jacksonville employers competing for scarcer in-house talent acquisition expertise rather than expanding volume. Benchmark this role against local competition, not national hiring-pace signals.
HRIS Analyst pay is falling locally while national demand climbs.
Metro advertised pay for HRIS Analyst dropped moderately even as national pay rose moderately, a gap wide enough to suggest Jacksonville employers are either under-leveling the role or losing out to remote/national competition for HRIS talent. Consider stress-testing whether local postings are priced to compete with remote offers.
Median advertised pay by role — Jacksonville, FL MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation Analyst | $75,501 | $96,145 | $99,448 | Significant increase | $101,727 |
| HR Business Partner | $59,256 | $74,250 | $85,182 | Stable | $83,766 |
| Benefits Manager | $88,563 | $113,982 | $118,867 | Significant increase | $117,888 |
| HRIS Analyst | $74,796 | $83,710 | $96,658 | Moderate decline | $97,555 |
| HR Coordinator | $41,407 | $50,287 | $52,312 | Moderate increase | $50,000 |
| Recruiter | $47,804 | $61,412 | $66,679 | Significant increase | $68,167 |
| Payroll Specialist | $48,333 | $55,024 | $60,720 | Significant decline | $59,855 |
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
Jacksonville's unemployment rate eased slightly to 4.9% in Duval County in August, but that figure still sits a full percentage point above June 2025's 4.2%, and net job creation has nearly stalled at 500 positions added over the prior 12 months. Financial Activities shed 4,000 jobs and Government cut 2,400 over the year, offsetting growth in Education and Health Services (+4.8%) and Professional and Business Services (+2.0%), consistent with a metro economy rebalancing away from corporate and public-sector headcount toward care-economy demand.
What it means
Sluggish net job growth alongside a rising jobless rate signals a labor market loosening faster than the state or national picture, giving employers more hiring leverage even as Florida's incoming $15 minimum wage (effective September 30) compresses entry-level pay bands. Financial Activities contraction locally may mean HR teams in banking, insurance, and related back-office functions face internal restructuring decisions even as Professional and Business Services and healthcare employers compete for a narrower pool of specialized talent. Consider reviewing workforce plans by sector rather than metro-wide averages, since Jacksonville's job losses are concentrated enough that blanket hiring freezes or blanket raises may misallocate budget.
Looking ahead
Expected: Florida's minimum wage rises to $15.00 (tipped: $11.98) on September 30, with a further step to $16.00 scheduled after that date. Compensation teams should confirm Q4 budget models reflect compounding increases across lower-wage job families, particularly in hospitality and retail-adjacent Jacksonville employers.
Emerging pressure point: Financial Activities job losses (-4,000 over the year) warrant tracking for WARN filings or further contraction signals, especially given statewide WARN-notice activity already running below 2025 levels. A continued slide could release mid-career finance and compliance talent into the local candidate pool.
Worth watching: Resident employment in the metro fell 1.1% year-over-year even as the unemployment rate only modestly increased, a gap that may reflect labor force exits rather than pure job loss. Watch whether this trend affects applicant volume for hard-to-fill professional and healthcare roles.
Potential inflection point: National job postings growth turned positive for the first time in nearly four years as of mid-September. Jacksonville employers should monitor whether that national inflection translates into local posting volume, which would signal tightening ahead of Q1 2027 hiring plans.
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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