Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Longview, TX MSA — September 2026
Longview unemployment climbs as job growth slows to a crawl.
Gregg County's jobless rate rose from 4.3% to 5.3% between March and June 2026 even as metro payrolls grew just 0.6% over the year, trailing Texas's 1.1% statewide pace.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Gregg County unemployment rate: 5.3% — Up from 4.3% in March 2026
- Longview MSA annual job growth: +0.6% — vs 1.1% Texas, trailing state pace
- Longview MSA total nonfarm employment: 123,900 — August 2026, up 800 jobs over the year
- Texas WARN-affected workers: 14,592 — Down 45% year over year statewide
Key takeaways
Unemployment rose a full point in three months.
Gregg County's jobless rate moved from 4.3% in March to 5.3% by June, even as nonfarm payrolls grew modestly, suggesting labor force growth or re-entry is outpacing job creation locally. That combination typically signals a market in transition rather than acute distress, but it bears close watching against the next two BLS releases.
Pay signals are splitting along skilled-trade and white-collar lines.
HVAC technician pay rose significantly locally while electrician pay declined moderately, and accountant pay jumped even as financial analyst pay fell sharply — a dispersion pattern that mirrors the national split between hands-on sectors and office-based roles. This divergence complicates any single narrative about whether the local business climate is heating up or cooling down.
Job growth is real but running below the state average.
Longview's 2026 average monthly job gain of 50 beats 2025's pace of 33, yet annual payroll growth of 0.6% lags Texas's 1.1% and national momentum tied to data-center and AI-linked investment. Commerce leaders positioning the metro for outside investment should note the gap rather than assume statewide tailwinds are reaching Longview proportionally.
Manufacturing remains a structural pillar worth monitoring closely.
Manufacturing employs nearly 6,900 workers in Gregg County, one of the metro's three largest sectors, at a moment when Texas manufacturing activity accelerated sharply in September on stronger orders and shipments. Whether that statewide rebound translates into local hiring or wage movement is one of the clearest near-term tests of Longview's exposure to broader Texas industrial momentum.
Median advertised pay by role — Longview, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $21,840 | $27,040 | $31,720 | Moderate increase | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $21,459 | $23,996 | $26,000 | Moderate decline | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $30,160 | $34,195 | $35,360 | Moderate increase | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $55,284 | $83,706 | $94,914 | Moderate increase | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $26,089 | $31,216 | $35,360 | Significant decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $35,360 | $35,360 | $35,360 | Stable | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $53,706 | $65,810 | $71,345 | Moderate decline | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $30,236 | $33,280 | $35,278 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $31,200 | $35,360 | $36,571 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $23,140 | $26,911 | $27,213 | Moderate decline | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $31,200 | $33,981 | $35,937 | Stable | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $31,501 | $38,593 | $41,600 | Moderate increase | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $49,920 | $60,877 | $62,715 | Significant increase | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $76,887 | $84,003 | $91,919 | Moderate increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer * | $113,156 | $152,465 | $167,279 | Moderate increase | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer * | $100,220 | $136,140 | $154,980 | Moderate increase | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $57,749 | $75,000 | $82,500 | Significant increase | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $67,463 | $69,986 | $89,044 | Significant decline | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $50,543 | $63,911 | $71,021 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $46,677 | $60,734 | $71,585 | Stable | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $70,000 | $83,712 | $98,391 | Moderate decline | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $33,383 | $55,068 | $59,332 | Moderate increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $52,500 | $85,724 | $94,887 | Significant increase | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $48,368 | $70,237 | $81,507 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $79,805 | $97,107 | $109,495 | Stable | $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 | $55,000 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $56,160 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $35,915 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $71,500 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $56,764 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $46,512 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $44,072 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $60,959 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $31,278 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $67,273 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Gregg County's unemployment rate climbed to 5.3% in June 2026 from 4.3% in March, even as Longview MSA payrolls kept expanding — up 800 jobs over the year to 123,900 by August, a pace of growth that trails the state's 1.1% annual rate. Softening in information and administrative pay alongside firmer gains in manufacturing-adjacent trades is consistent with a metro economy still anchored by retail trade, health care, and manufacturing employment, while statewide data-center and AI-linked capital investment has yet to show a clear local imprint.
What it means
Rising local unemployment alongside continued, if modest, payroll growth suggests a labor market absorbing more job seekers without a matching acceleration in new positions — a pattern commerce leaders should read as softening demand pressure rather than a supply shortage. Divergent local pay signals, such as declining advertised pay for electricians and financial analysts against gains for accountants and HVAC technicians, point to uneven sector momentum rather than a uniform cooling or heating trend. Current conditions suggest economic development and chamber leadership should track sector-level divergence closely before characterizing the metro's trajectory in blanket terms.
Looking ahead
Expected release: September 2026 BLS metro-level data for Longview, including the unemployment rate and sector payroll detail, should publish in mid-to-late October. That release will clarify whether June's jump to 5.3% was a blip or the start of a trend.
Worth watching: Statewide manufacturing acceleration, tied partly to AI and data-center-linked capital spending, has not yet shown up clearly in Longview's numbers. Watch whether Gregg County's manufacturing employment and wages begin reflecting that statewide momentum over the next two reporting cycles.
Emerging pressure point: Texas WARN notices fell 45% year over year statewide, concentrated improvement in transportation/logistics and manufacturing, but no Longview-specific WARN activity has surfaced this month. Absence of local filings is a modestly reassuring signal, though it should be read against the metro's own rising unemployment rate rather than as unambiguous good news.
Potential inflection point: Diverging local pay trends for skilled trades versus professional-services roles may presage a broader reallocation of labor demand across the metro's basket of industries. A consistent widening of that gap over the next quarter would merit a dedicated look at which sectors are driving the metro's net job growth.
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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