Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Jonesboro, AR MSA — October 2026
Jonesboro payrolls dip as pay splits between office and warehouse work
Jonesboro shed 100 jobs in September after an August gain of 300, even as metro unemployment improved to 4.5% from 4.7% a year earlier and advertised pay diverged sharply between rising office-sector roles and softening warehouse and trades categories.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro payroll change, September: -100 jobs — vs. +300 in August 2026
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.5% — vs. 4.7% in August 2025
- Craighead County unemployment: 3.5% — down 0.7 pts from July 2026
- Arkansas statewide unemployment: 3.9% — vs. 4.2% national rate, Sept. 2026
Key takeaways
September's job loss looks like a pause.
Jonesboro shed 100 jobs in September after gaining 300 in August, a single-month swing within a metro that still posted 0.9% year-over-year job growth through August. One soft month against a backdrop of declining unemployment and record state employment does not yet constitute a trend reversal for local economic planning.
Goods-handling pay is softening while office roles climb.
Warehouse/fulfillment, delivery driver, manufacturing production, and HVAC technician advertised pay (a signal of hiring demand, where one ad often covers several openings) all moved down locally this month, while accountant, operations manager, and marketing specialist pay rose significantly. Divergence of this kind may reflect a shift in the composition of local labor demand toward administrative and professional functions.
Local unemployment keeps beating its year-ago mark.
August's 4.5% metro jobless rate, down from 4.7% a year prior, and Craighead County's 3.5% rate both track with Arkansas's broader improvement to 3.9% statewide. Sustained year-over-year gains in a mid-sized metro suggest underlying labor market resilience even as monthly payroll counts fluctuate.
Software engineer pay drop bucks the local professional trend.
Metro software engineer advertised pay fell significantly even as national software engineer pay held stable, a divergence that stands apart from gains in accounting, operations, and marketing roles locally. Isolated softening in one high-wage technical category is worth monitoring as a potential early signal of narrower tech-sector demand in the metro.
Median advertised pay by role — Jonesboro, AR MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $22,348 | $26,363 | $29,120 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $23,920 | $25,825 | $27,053 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $29,491 | $32,435 | $34,365 | Moderate decline | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $63,929 | $80,600 | $91,000 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $27,365 | $31,226 | $36,400 | Moderate decline | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $33,800 | $37,440 | $38,480 | Moderate increase | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $61,805 | $70,096 | $76,762 | Stable | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $31,200 | $33,531 | $35,360 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $32,957 | $34,163 | $34,653 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $25,321 | $27,124 | $30,958 | Moderate decline | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $29,640 | $38,660 | $41,317 | Moderate increase | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $28,351 | $31,200 | $35,600 | Moderate decline | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $50,091 | $51,519 | $52,856 | Significant decline | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $79,560 | $90,921 | $94,654 | Stable | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $123,376 | $153,429 | $158,574 | Significant decline | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer * | $91,487 | $125,778 | $138,330 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $57,043 | $76,300 | $90,547 | Significant increase | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $69,207 | $87,628 | $90,018 | Stable | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager * | $48,855 | $68,873 | $77,744 | Significant increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $44,697 | $61,187 | $75,104 | Significant increase | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $60,059 | $76,001 | $95,000 | Significant increase | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $27,040 | $42,109 | $45,881 | Stable | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $79,659 | $90,731 | $98,810 | Significant increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $46,548 | $60,781 | $70,032 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $75,854 | $92,896 | $103,891 | Stable | $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 | $68,636 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $82,500 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $32,023 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $64,006 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $63,339 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $45,433 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $49,327 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $46,348 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $29,120 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Government | $65,339 | Stable | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Jonesboro metro nonfarm payrolls slipped by 100 in September after an August gain of 300, a softening that stands out against Arkansas's record-high statewide employment and 3.9% unemployment rate. Local unemployment has still improved year-over-year (4.5% in August versus 4.7% a year earlier) and Craighead County unemployment fell to 3.5%, suggesting the metro's deceleration is a pace change, consistent with national patterns of above-trend but moderating job growth.
What it means
Metro payroll softening alongside falling unemployment points to a labor market tightening from the supply side, a dynamic that matters for any commerce leader weighing local expansion or investment timing. Advertised pay moving down for warehouse, delivery, manufacturing production, and HVAC roles locally, even as several professional categories (accounting, operations management, marketing) post significant local gains, signals a bifurcated local economy where goods-handling and skilled trades segments are softening while office-based and managerial compensation strengthens. Current conditions suggest civic and economic development leaders track whether the September payroll dip persists into October data before characterizing it as a trend, and commerce leaders should weigh sector-specific softening against metro-wide labor force stability when assessing expansion readiness.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: October metro-level BLS data has not yet been released; whether the September 100-job decline extends into a second consecutive month will determine if this is noise or the start of a local growth slowdown.
Worth watching: Arkansas added government jobs (+10,500) and private education/health jobs (+3,600) statewide in September. Tracking whether Jonesboro's public-sector and healthcare employment mirrors that statewide stability will clarify how much of the metro's resilience rests on these sectors.
Emerging pressure point: Advertised pay softened across warehouse, delivery, manufacturing, and HVAC roles locally, measured by job ads, which track demand and often cover several openings each, even as national figures for several of these categories held stable or rose. Persistent local softening in goods-movement and skilled-trades compensation, set against Jonesboro's logistics-adjacent economic base, merits continued tracking by economic development officials.
Potential inflection point: Real wages nationally are falling behind inflation (1.5% earnings growth versus 3.5% CPI in Q3), a gap that compresses household purchasing power. Watch whether Arkansas's stronger wage-withholding growth (5.7% year-over-year) is enough to shield Jonesboro-area consumer spending from that national pattern.
Sources
- USA Facts / BLS — Jonesboro metro lost 100 jobs in September 2026 after gaining 300 in August
- Talk Business & Politics — Jonesboro metro unemployment at 4.5% in August 2026 vs 4.7% year prior
- Fiscal Toolbox / BLS — Craighead County unemployment fell to 3.5% in August 2026
- Arkansas Department of Commerce / BLS — Arkansas unemployment held at 3.9% in September, record labor force
- Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration — Arkansas added 10,500 government and 3,600 private education/health jobs in September
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National median weekly earnings rose 1.5% vs 3.5% CPI gain in Q3 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.