Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Port St. Lucie, FL MSA — September 2026
Port St. Lucie's flat jobs number conceals a narrowing economic base.
Unemployment held steady at 4.2% in September, matching the national rate, but growth is now concentrated almost entirely in healthcare, education, government and a small Information sector while professional services and logistics keep contracting.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.2% — Matches national rate; down from 5.4% in February
- Metro nonfarm employment: -0.6% YoY — 180,000 jobs as of April 2026, down 1,100 YoY
- Information sector growth: +7.7% — Fastest among FL metros, but off small base (~100 jobs)
- Florida WARN-affected workers: 13,944 in 2026 — Down 29% vs 2025 statewide
Key takeaways
Flat headline number hides a two-speed local economy.
Information, healthcare/education, and government are growing faster than their statewide counterparts, while professional services, trade/transportation, and financial activities are contracting. Aggregate employment figures alone will understate the shift underway in the metro's sector composition.
Information sector's small size makes its growth rate misleading.
Port St. Lucie tied for the highest annual Information-sector job growth of any Florida metro at +7.7%, but this reflects roughly 100 jobs added, not a structural tech pivot. Treat the percentage as a signal of early momentum rather than a current scale indicator.
Local wage softness in logistics and services diverges from national stability.
CDL Truck Driver pay is down significantly locally while holding stable nationally, and Food Service Worker and Customer Service Representative pay are both down locally against flat national figures. This suggests softer local demand in trade and consumer-facing sectors than the state or national baseline implies.
Healthcare and education wage gains outpace the metro's own cooling trend.
Registered Nurse pay rose significantly locally ($94,640) even as broader metro employment growth stalled, consistent with statewide education and health services adding 39,000 jobs over the year. Public health and education wage momentum looks structural, tracking Florida's steady investment in these sectors rather than a one-month fluctuation.
Median advertised pay by role — Port St. Lucie, FL MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $28,102 | $32,454 | $35,890 | Stable | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $27,975 | $30,933 | $32,096 | Stable | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $31,200 | $33,999 | $35,677 | Stable | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $46,379 | $78,475 | $99,450 | Significant decline | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $30,160 | $33,280 | $42,640 | Moderate decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $33,280 | $35,762 | $38,480 | Moderate decline | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $47,840 | $62,355 | $64,480 | Moderate increase | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $31,937 | $38,474 | $41,600 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $33,280 | $37,600 | $41,600 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $29,461 | $29,885 | $33,280 | Significant decline | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $32,240 | $35,360 | $36,400 | Stable | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $35,360 | $41,350 | $44,463 | Stable | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $55,994 | $59,150 | $61,377 | Stable | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $79,000 | $94,640 | $104,878 | Significant increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $150,287 | $156,623 | $168,805 | Stable | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer | $120,076 | $120,170 | $120,170 | Stable | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $60,000 | $68,224 | $73,871 | Moderate increase | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $67,598 | $88,101 | $91,390 | Significant increase | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $60,242 | $72,964 | $80,000 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist | $47,955 | $70,000 | $76,110 | Significant increase | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $60,000 | $72,643 | $87,458 | Stable | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $34,320 | $49,650 | $59,097 | Significant increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $62,500 | $80,000 | $90,000 | Moderate increase | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $61,238 | $72,000 | $75,000 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $69,121 | $80,951 | $97,963 | Moderate 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 | $54,080 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $63,555 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $35,890 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $45,809 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Information | $55,000 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $50,264 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $53,881 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $71,763 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $31,200 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Government | $70,129 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Port St. Lucie's unemployment rate held at 4.2% in September, mirroring the national rate and marking a stabilization after a volatile run that saw local joblessness spike to 5.4% in February before easing through summer, while nonfarm employment remains roughly flat year-over-year following an April reading of -0.6%. Growth is concentrated in Information (+7.7%), Education and Health Services (+3.3%), and Government (+0.5%), each outpacing their statewide counterparts, even as Professional and Business Services, Trade/Transportation/Utilities, and Financial Activities continue shedding jobs locally, consistent with the white-collar softness showing up in national data.
What it means
Divergence between resilient public-sector and healthcare/education hiring and ongoing contraction in professional services and logistics suggests the metro's economic base is narrowing toward a smaller set of reliably growing sectors, a relevant consideration for economic development planning and business-attraction targeting. Commerce leaders evaluating expansion or relocation incentives may find stronger near-term footing in health systems, education, and information-sector employers than in administrative or warehousing-dependent operations, where advertised pay for roles like Construction Laborer ($35,762, down moderately) and Business Analyst ($80,951, down moderately) is also softening. Consider reviewing local economic development priorities against sector-level momentum rather than aggregate job counts, which currently mask meaningful divergence beneath a flat headline number.
Looking ahead
Potential inflection point: Florida's minimum wage rises to $15.00 (and $16.00 after the subsequent CPI-tied adjustment per state reporting) effective September 30, 2026, directly affecting retail, food service, and hospitality pay floors across the metro. Watch whether this compresses the gap between entry-level and skilled-trade advertised pay locally.
Worth watching: Local Professional and Business Services and Trade/Transportation/Utilities losses mirror national softness in finance and administrative work; a fourth or fifth consecutive month of decline would indicate a durable local trend rather than normal churn. Economic development officials may want to track whether regional office and logistics vacancies follow.
Early indicator: National WARN filings remain below 2025 levels and Florida's 2026 WARN-affected worker count is down 29% year-over-year, suggesting layoff risk is currently contained. Any new Port St. Lucie-area WARN notice would be a meaningful departure from this trend and worth flagging quickly given the metro's smaller employment base.
Expected: State economists project Florida's unemployment rate to rise further to 4.9% before easing to 4.7% in FY2027-28, implying continued softness statewide. Local leaders should expect Port St. Lucie's rate to track this statewide path rather than diverge sharply in either direction over the near term.
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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