Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Johnstown, PA MSA — September 2026
Johnstown's falling jobless rate hides a shrinking job base.
Johnstown MSA unemployment fell to 4.4% from 5.1% a year ago even as nonfarm payrolls dropped 400 jobs, while Cambria County job postings surged 36.6% without yet showing up in employment counts.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Johnstown MSA unemployment rate: 4.4% — Down from 5.1% a year earlier (July 2026)
- Johnstown nonfarm payrolls: 49,800 jobs — Down 400 y/y despite falling unemployment
- Cambria County job postings: 1,907 postings — Up 36.6% y/y as of March 2026
- Metro avg weekly wage: $1,002 — vs. $1,654 U.S. average (Q1 2026)
Key takeaways
Lower jobless rate masks a shrinking labor force, not more jobs.
Nonfarm payrolls fell 400 year-over-year even as unemployment dropped to 4.4% from 5.1%, a pattern consistent with workers exiting the labor force rather than genuine hiring strength. Government economists should treat the improving rate with caution until participation data confirms the trend.
Posting growth is outrunning actual payroll activity.
Cambria County job postings rose 36.6% year-over-year in March, far outpacing the metro's flat-to-negative employment trend, suggesting employers are testing demand or backfilling rather than net-expanding. Commerce leaders should watch whether this gap closes before treating it as a growth signal for the local business climate.
Wage levels remain structurally below national norms.
Johnstown's $1,002 average weekly wage sits roughly 39% under the $1,654 national figure, a long-standing gap rather than a new development. That persistent differential shapes the metro's cost competitiveness for site-selection and relocation conversations commerce groups are likely fielding.
Manufacturing and retail still anchor the metro's job base.
Retail trade accounts for 12.9% of metro employment and manufacturing 8.8%, a composition more blue-collar-weighted than the national economy's current health-care-and-construction-led growth pattern. Local economic development strategy should account for this divergence when benchmarking Johnstown against national sector trends.
Median advertised pay by role — Johnstown, PA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $21,507 | $27,040 | $29,120 | Stable | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $23,673 | $26,694 | $28,697 | Stable | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $28,458 | $34,320 | $37,459 | Stable | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $57,213 | $80,600 | $88,400 | Stable | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $27,845 | $32,333 | $35,000 | Moderate decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $31,208 | $33,363 | $36,650 | Stable | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $59,280 | $67,540 | $80,194 | Significant increase | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $33,685 | $39,000 | $39,520 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $30,160 | $34,243 | $35,474 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $25,908 | $32,335 | $37,500 | Moderate decline | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $30,513 | $37,602 | $41,808 | Moderate decline | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $31,437 | $37,468 | $41,793 | Moderate decline | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $56,160 | $57,500 | $60,122 | Significant decline | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $83,605 | $102,278 | $112,060 | Significant increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $113,462 | $147,502 | $154,591 | Moderate decline | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,171 | $131,431 | $149,994 | Stable | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $42,101 | $59,196 | $59,923 | Moderate increase | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst * | $71,759 | $91,552 | $101,000 | Moderate increase | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager * | $56,586 | $70,000 | $81,860 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $49,487 | $62,371 | $70,265 | Stable | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $71,998 | $82,960 | $98,931 | Stable | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $26,451 | $43,653 | $53,218 | Significant increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $35,298 | $125,000 | $171,890 | Significant increase | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $52,917 | $74,000 | $81,500 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $86,487 | $100,577 | $101,368 | Significant decline | $98,279 |
* 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 | $44,200 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $74,000 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $33,179 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $55,028 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $56,184 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $62,460 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $87,500 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $46,563 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $29,402 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $66,955 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Johnstown MSA unemployment eased to 4.4% in July 2026, down from 5.1% a year earlier, even as nonfarm payrolls slipped 400 jobs over the same period to 49,800 -- a sign the rate is improving partly through labor force contraction rather than pure job creation. Metro wage growth remains soft against a national wage-inflation squeeze, with the region's $1,002 average weekly wage still well below the $1,654 U.S. average, while local job postings in Cambria County jumped 36.6% year-over-year through March, pointing to employer demand that has not yet translated into broad payroll growth.
What it means
Falling unemployment alongside shrinking payrolls suggests Johnstown's labor force participation, not labor demand, is the swing factor shaping the headline rate -- a dynamic government economists should flag when interpreting the metro's apparent improvement. For commerce leaders, the gap between strong posting growth and flat-to-declining payrolls indicates employers are advertising ahead of confirmed need, consistent with cautious rather than expansionary local investment. Current conditions suggest monitoring whether Cambria County's posting surge converts into actual payroll additions over the next two reporting cycles before reading it as a demand signal.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether Cambria County's 36.6% posting growth shows up in the next BLS payroll release for the Johnstown MSA; a continued gap between postings and employment would reinforce a cautious-hiring read on the local business climate.
Potential inflection point: Pennsylvania's statewide unemployment rose to 4.1% in September after dipping to 3.7% in August -- if Johnstown's August/September data mirrors that reversal, it would interrupt the metro's recent improvement trend and warrants close tracking.
Worth watching: Statewide labor force dropouts rose from 8,000 to over 15,000 through Q3 2025; local economists should watch Cambria and Somerset county participation figures for a similar pattern, which would explain Johnstown's falling-unemployment-falling-payrolls combination.
Emerging pressure point: National WARN filings remain elevated (3,562 notices, 313,234 workers as of late September) with no Johnstown-specific notices identified this month; absence of local WARN activity is a modest positive but should be confirmed against the PA DLI registry monthly.
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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