Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA — October 2026
Philadelphia stalls as Pennsylvania hits a record-low jobless rate.
Pennsylvania's unemployment fell to 3.6% in September, its lowest since 2023, while Philadelphia added just 200 jobs that month and professional-services employment grew only 0.7% over four years.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Philadelphia job growth, Sept 2026: +200 jobs — vs Pittsburgh's -1,600 same month
- Pennsylvania unemployment rate: 3.6% — Lowest since Sept 2023; 29th month below US rate
- Professional services growth, 2022-2026: 0.7% — Four-year cumulative, Philadelphia MSA
- Metro unemployment claims, YoY change: +19.7% — Layoffs/terminations drove ~75% of increase
Key takeaways
Philadelphia's job growth has stalled while Pennsylvania's has not.
Statewide unemployment hit 3.6% in September, the lowest since 2023, yet Philadelphia added just 200 jobs for the month against a 1,600-job loss in Pittsburgh. Metro-level stagnation inside a strengthening state points to localized drag, worth distinguishing in any public commentary on the area's economic trajectory.
Professional services weakness looks structural.
Professional and business services employment grew only 0.7% across the four years from June 2022 to June 2026, a historically weak stretch outside recession periods, while information-sector jobs fell 7.9% through June. That multi-year pattern, paired with national information-sector losses of 23,000 in September, points to a durable realignment in white-collar demand.
Healthcare concentration is both the region's strength and its exposure.
Health care and social assistance account for 27% of Philadelphia employment versus 16% nationally, and education & health services drove Pennsylvania's largest year-over-year sector gain at 32,600 jobs. Advertised pay for registered nurses (metro median $103,133, up significantly) confirms sustained demand, but an economy this reliant on one sector carries concentration risk that diversification-minded commerce leaders should track.
Real wages are falling even as headline numbers look stable.
National median weekly earnings rose 1.5% in Q3 against 3.5% CPI inflation over the same period, meaning real purchasing power is eroding despite a 4.1% national unemployment rate holding steady. Locally stable advertised pay across retail, food service, and warehouse roles compounds that effect, with consumer spending power likely softer than static job numbers suggest.
Median advertised pay by role — Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $27,595 | $34,320 | $36,962 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $27,586 | $32,835 | $34,320 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $33,976 | $38,750 | $41,600 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $58,776 | $79,643 | $90,000 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $32,768 | $35,868 | $40,326 | Stable | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $35,963 | $41,600 | $45,760 | Stable | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $60,522 | $72,800 | $76,332 | Moderate increase | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $34,993 | $40,560 | $44,720 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $35,360 | $41,600 | $45,760 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $29,900 | $33,280 | $35,360 | Moderate decline | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $34,320 | $41,600 | $45,240 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $37,440 | $45,760 | $50,000 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $63,404 | $78,000 | $83,200 | Moderate increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $86,145 | $103,133 | $112,320 | Significant increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $112,586 | $144,012 | $159,811 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $99,840 | $129,950 | $147,839 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $63,500 | $73,876 | $82,500 | Stable | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $72,514 | $92,500 | $101,250 | Stable | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $59,832 | $70,000 | $81,468 | Stable | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist | $51,849 | $66,077 | $73,276 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager | $67,667 | $100,600 | $105,000 | Moderate decline | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $36,400 | $57,500 | $67,017 | Significant increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $65,760 | $90,000 | $105,000 | Moderate increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager | $52,917 | $79,000 | $80,000 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $83,203 | $97,221 | $108,564 | Stable | $98,302 |
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 | $69,706 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $115,350 | Stable | Moderate decline |
| Retail Trade | $38,292 | Stable | Stable |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $43,680 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Information | $102,373 | Stable | Significant decline |
| Financial Activities | $98,511 | Moderate increase | Moderate increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $69,396 | Moderate increase | Moderate increase |
| Education & Health Services | $59,280 | Significant increase | Moderate decline |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $34,424 | Stable | Stable |
| Government | $67,151 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
Local market conditions
Philadelphia metro employment held roughly flat over the past year even as the nation added jobs at a roughly 175,000-per-month pace, with professional and business services growing just 0.7% across the entire 2022-2026 period and information-sector employment contracting 7.9% through June 2026. Pennsylvania's statewide unemployment rate fell to a record-low 3.6% in September — 29 straight months below the national rate — while Philadelphia itself added only 200 jobs that month, a divergence that points to a state economy outperforming a metro economy still working through sector-specific softness in tech, media, and professional services.
What it means
Flat metro employment alongside record-low state unemployment suggests Philadelphia's labor market tightness reflects a shrinking available workforce more than fresh job creation, a distinction that matters for any economic development or expansion case built on hiring ease. Healthcare and education continue to anchor the region's job base — accounting for 27% of metro employment versus 16% nationally — meaning the local economy's resilience is concentrated in a few sectors. Commerce leaders evaluating the health of the local business climate should weigh sector concentration risk alongside headline unemployment figures, since a low jobless rate built on eds-and-meds dominance behaves differently than one built on diversified private investment.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Comcast Technology Center's WARN filing for 634 workers, effective December 31, lands squarely in the metro's information and professional-services soft spot. Watch whether displaced talent is absorbed locally or exits the region, a signal of whether Philadelphia's professional-services contraction is cyclical or permanent.
Worth watching: New unemployment claims in the metro rose 19.7% year-over-year, with layoffs and terminations driving roughly three-quarters of that increase. A second consecutive month of rising claims would sharpen the case that metro-level softness is broadening beyond information and professional services.
Potential inflection point: November's BLS release will bring the first official October metro-level data, filling a reporting gap that currently limits confidence in real-time local readings. Expect that release to clarify whether Philadelphia's flat employment trend persisted or began reversing.
Policy to monitor: Pennsylvania's minimum wage remains frozen at $7.25, unchanged since 2009, while Democratic lawmakers have proposed phased increases to $15 by 2029 with no Senate action to date. Any legislative movement would directly affect advertised pay floors across the region's large retail, food service, and hospitality employment base.
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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