Labor Market Pulse · Human Resources · September 2026
Human Resources Labor Market Report: Pueblo, CO MSA — September 2026
Pueblo's labor market splits as layoffs widen the gap with Colorado.
Pueblo County unemployment held at 6.6% against Colorado's 4.0%, while local Compensation Analyst pay fell to $80,862 even as the national figure stayed flat at $101,727.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Pueblo County unemployment: 6.6% — vs 4.0% statewide, 4.1% national (August 2026)
- Pueblo metro employment: 67.1K — Down from 68.8K in Nov 2025
- Colorado WARN-affected workers: 5,059 — 42 notices statewide in 2026, Pueblo most-affected city
- National hires rate: 3.2% — Lowest outside pandemic/2009-11 recovery (July 2026)
Key takeaways
Pueblo's unemployment gap versus the state is widening, not closing.
County unemployment at 6.6% sits well above Colorado's 4.0% and the national 4.1%, driven by Amentum's seven rounds of layoffs and Battelle's project closure. Expect a larger, more available local labor pool for operational and support roles even as statewide participation hits record lows.
Compensation Analyst pay is sliding sharply while the role nationally holds firm.
Metro median advertised pay for Compensation Analyst dropped significantly to $80,862 against a stable $101,727 nationally, a gap that suggests local demand for this specialty has softened as contractor and manufacturing employers downsize. Hiring managers in Pueblo may have room to benchmark more conservatively here than national data would suggest.
HR Coordinator and Payroll Specialist pay are climbing against a cooling backdrop.
Both roles show significant upward movement locally — HR Coordinator to $52,199 and Payroll Specialist to $57,755 — even as overall metro employment contracts. This divergence is consistent with sustained demand for administrative HR execution capacity even where strategic HR roles are softening.
Manufacturing and defense-contractor layoffs may be releasing adjacent talent.
Mission Foods' plant closure and Amentum's extended layoff cycle add to a run of WARN notices that made Pueblo the most-affected Colorado city for filings in early 2026. Workforce planners should watch whether this talent surfaces in administrative, logistics, or government-adjacent roles where Colorado projects growth.
Median advertised pay by role — Pueblo, CO MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation Analyst | $80,768 | $80,862 | $80,862 | Significant decline | $101,727 |
| HR Business Partner | $62,131 | $73,735 | $81,585 | Moderate decline | $83,766 |
| Benefits Manager * | $78,500 | $119,562 | $125,246 | Stable | $117,888 |
| HRIS Analyst * | $82,719 | $97,578 | $103,000 | Moderate increase | $97,555 |
| HR Coordinator * | $41,600 | $52,199 | $58,240 | Significant increase | $50,000 |
| Recruiter | $53,458 | $61,617 | $80,860 | Stable | $68,167 |
| Payroll Specialist | $46,500 | $57,755 | $68,432 | Significant increase | $59,855 |
* 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
Local market conditions
Pueblo's labor market continues contracting while the rest of Colorado stabilizes — county unemployment sat at 6.6% in August against a statewide 4.0%, and metro employment slid to roughly 67.1 thousand as federal contractor Amentum's layoffs and the wind-down of Battelle's chemical weapons project drain defense-adjacent jobs. Mission Foods' announced closure of its Pueblo tortilla plant, eliminating 90 jobs by late October, adds manufacturing losses on top of an already soft base, even as statewide labor force participation hits a record low of 65.3%.
What it means
Pueblo employers face a split market: broad labor supply looks loose given elevated local unemployment, but specialized technical and defense-contractor talent displaced by Amentum and Battelle cuts may not match open roles in healthcare, education, or government — the sectors Colorado projects to grow in 2026. This mismatch means volume hiring for hourly and administrative roles should get easier, while HR teams competing for compensation, HRIS, or benefits expertise should expect continued tightness reflected in this metro's pay movements. Consider reviewing whether current sourcing channels are built for a bifurcated market — recruiting displaced manufacturing and technical workers for adjacent roles while still competing aggressively for scarce specialist talent.
Looking ahead
Expected: Mission Foods' Pueblo plant closure completes by October 27, releasing roughly 90 manufacturing workers into a local market already carrying 6.6% unemployment. Track whether these workers reappear in logistics, food service, or retail postings over the next two pay cycles.
Worth watching: Battelle's August WARN filing for 12 additional employees signals its Pueblo footprint is still shrinking even after the main project wind-down. Any further federal contractor filings would reinforce that defense and remediation work is a structurally declining employment base locally, not a one-time adjustment.
Emerging pressure point: Colorado's eight-of-eleven-industry growth projection favors education, health services, and government — sectors Pueblo should track closely given its administrative-support and healthcare employment concentration. Watch whether local postings in these sectors absorb displaced manufacturing and contractor talent or whether a skills mismatch persists.
Potential inflection point: National hires rate has fallen to 3.2%, the lowest outside recession periods, while job postings nationally just turned positive for the first time in nearly four years. If this national loosening reaches Pueblo's already-soft market, expect further downward pressure on advertised pay for mid-skill and administrative roles over the next quarter.
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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