Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Pueblo, CO MSA — October 2026
Pueblo's jobless rate pulls away from Colorado's as plant closes.
Pueblo unemployment hit 6.6% in August against Colorado's 4.1%, and the Mission Foods plant closure cut 90 more manufacturing jobs by late October.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Pueblo MSA unemployment rate: 6.6% — vs 4.1% Colorado, 4.1% U.S. (August 2026)
- Mission Foods plant closure: 90 jobs — Plus ~100 awaiting recall from earlier layoff
- Pueblo County mean wages: $52,379 — Down from $53,796 in 2023
- Colorado labor force participation: 65.2% — Lowest since September 1979
Key takeaways
Pueblo's unemployment gap with the state is widening.
Metro unemployment at 6.6% in August sits 2.5 points above Colorado's 4.1%, reversing a prior-year trend where the gap had been narrowing. That divergence suggests local forces — plant closures and softening job ads, a signal of hiring demand where one ad often covers several openings — are driving the metro's labor market separately from Colorado's broader tightness.
Manufacturing wage declines complicate the metro's industrial pitch.
Manufacturing Production Worker pay fell significantly even as the national figure held stable, and Mission Foods' plant closure removed another manufacturing employer from the local base. Commerce leaders courting industrial investment should weigh whether advertised pay compression reflects softening demand or a one-time statistical effect from the closure.
Healthcare remains the metro's steadiest wage story.
Registered Nurse and CNA/Home Health Aide pay both rose moderately, consistent with state and national forecasts naming education and health services as the leading 2026 growth sector. That steadiness offers a more durable anchor for local economic messaging than manufacturing or retail right now.
Office and administrative pay erosion may signal thinning white-collar demand.
Administrative Assistant pay fell significantly locally while the national figure rose, and Business Analyst and Warehouse Manager pay both dropped sharply against stable-to-rising national benchmarks. Combined with office/administrative support representing 10.4% of metro employment, this points to a disproportionate local drag in roles that underpin small-business and civic-sector operations.
Median advertised pay by role — Pueblo, CO MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $30,413 | $32,997 | $37,076 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $29,691 | $34,508 | $35,880 | Moderate increase | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $34,087 | $37,440 | $39,520 | Moderate decline | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $59,558 | $81,624 | $96,200 | Moderate increase | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $32,577 | $35,144 | $37,277 | Moderate decline | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $36,722 | $39,520 | $45,760 | Significant decline | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $64,900 | $74,922 | $77,345 | Moderate decline | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $34,964 | $41,600 | $44,398 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $32,625 | $36,806 | $37,440 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $30,810 | $31,928 | $32,097 | Moderate decline | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $40,498 | $44,088 | $46,800 | Moderate increase | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $31,765 | $41,600 | $46,360 | Significant decline | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $63,306 | $70,938 | $81,120 | Moderate decline | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $80,129 | $91,653 | $100,181 | Moderate increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $142,866 | $158,282 | $163,840 | Moderate decline | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,189 | $142,500 | $158,718 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $55,817 | $63,153 | $71,742 | Stable | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst * | $75,000 | $96,830 | $104,300 | Stable | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $49,693 | $73,857 | $77,600 | Moderate decline | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $45,783 | $60,071 | $72,005 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $90,000 | $97,189 | $107,901 | Significant increase | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $41,475 | $60,079 | $66,504 | Moderate decline | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $59,315 | $116,028 | $124,129 | Significant increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $43,753 | $52,000 | $52,211 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $42,856 | $51,420 | $72,540 | Significant decline | $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 | $71,157 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $47,840 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $41,756 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $71,656 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $47,115 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $53,040 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $63,500 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $79,678 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $33,773 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Government | $70,513 | Stable | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Pueblo's unemployment rate climbed to 6.6% in August, up from 6.1% in July and well above the 4.1% state and national rates, driven in part by the closure of the Mission Foods tortilla plant, which eliminated 90 jobs by late October on top of roughly 100 workers already awaiting recall from an earlier layoff. Metro wages fell in nominal terms from a $53,796 average in 2023 to $52,379 in 2024, and job ads (a signal of hiring demand, with one ad often covering several openings) have thinned through the summer, a pattern consistent with a local economy losing momentum even as Colorado and the nation post modest job growth.
What it means
Pueblo's divergence from state and national trends — unemployment nearly three points above Colorado's 4.1% — signals a metro-specific contraction that matters for how commerce leaders calibrate expansion or investment timing against statewide narratives of labor scarcity. Manufacturing and administrative pay in the metro are falling in advertised terms (Manufacturing Production Worker down significantly, Administrative Assistant down significantly) even as healthcare pay (CNA/Home Health Aide, Registered Nurse) rises, pointing to an uneven recovery concentrated in health services. Current conditions suggest commerce and economic development leaders track whether Mission Foods' displaced workforce re-enters the local labor pool or exits the county, as that outcome will shape both consumer spending capacity and labor availability for manufacturing recruitment pitches.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether the roughly 100 workers previously awaiting recall from an earlier Mission Foods layoff, plus the 90 let go in October, show up in Pueblo County unemployment claims data or relocate out of the labor force entirely — the distinction matters for consumer spending projections.
Expected: Colorado's October unemployment figures, due November 20 from BLS, will show whether the state's labor force participation decline (now at a record low 65.2%) has metro-level echoes in Pueblo's own participation trend.
Emerging pressure point: Job ad volume (a signal of hiring demand, with one ad often covering several openings) in food preparation/serving and retail — a combined 20%+ of metro employment — bears watching for further softening; declines here would compound the manufacturing losses already visible in wage data.
Potential inflection point: Colorado's $6.74 million federal workforce training grant for aerospace and advanced manufacturing could create a pathway for displaced Pueblo manufacturing workers if local training providers secure a share of the funding.
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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