Labor Market Pulse · Human Resources · October 2026
Human Resources Labor Market Report: Rome, GA MSA — October 2026
Rome's labor force grows while manufacturing layoffs mount.
Rome's labor force expanded to 49,265 even as unemployment ticked up to 3.4% and International Paper filed a WARN notice for 792 workers, while local Recruiter pay fell to $44,280 against a $67,234 national median.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Rome unemployment rate: 3.4% — Up from 3.3% prior month; GA statewide 3.3%
- Rome labor force: 49,265 — Up 1,089 year-over-year; jobs flat at 47,000
- Manufacturing WARN impact: 792 workers — International Paper filing, Sept. 2026
- Recruiter advertised pay, metro: $44,280 — vs $67,234 national median
Key takeaways
Rome's labor force is growing faster than its job count.
The labor force added 1,089 workers over the year while total nonfarm employment stayed flat at 47,000 — a gap that typically loosens candidate availability for employers outside the tightest sectors. HR teams filling non-healthcare roles may find sourcing easier than regional headlines on 3.4% unemployment suggest.
Manufacturing WARN activity may be seeding the local talent pool.
International Paper's 792-worker notice and Hillshire Brands' 168-worker filing together represent nearly 1,000 displaced workers in a metro of nonfarm employment around 47,000. Watch whether this cohort surfaces in applicant pipelines for logistics, operations and skilled trades roles over the next two months.
HR Business Partner pay is rising sharply while Recruiter pay falls.
HRBP advertised pay climbed to a metro median of $83,308, a significant increase that now nearly matches the national figure, while Recruiter pay dropped significantly to $44,280, well below the $67,234 national median. The divergence suggests Rome employers are investing in strategic HR capacity even as transactional recruiting roles face local pay compression.
Healthcare remains the structural exception to a cooling metro.
Healthcare postings continue to dominate Rome's job boards, measured by job ads, which track demand and often cover several openings each, consistent with the two major hospital systems anchoring demand across a wide network of senior care and allied health employers. Compensation strategy for clinical and allied roles should track national healthcare wage trends as local manufacturing and recruiting pay softens.
Median advertised pay by role — Rome, GA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation Analyst * | $77,313 | $95,343 | $107,293 | Moderate increase | $100,798 |
| HR Business Partner | $56,849 | $83,308 | $91,557 | Significant increase | $83,900 |
| Benefits Manager * | $78,000 | $115,091 | $128,118 | Stable | $118,618 |
| HRIS Analyst * | $71,946 | $82,816 | $95,665 | Moderate decline | $95,000 |
| HR Coordinator * | $39,152 | $45,770 | $52,655 | Stable | $50,460 |
| Recruiter | $35,525 | $44,280 | $62,400 | Significant decline | $67,234 |
| Payroll Specialist * | $45,931 | $52,136 | $60,293 | Stable | $61,103 |
* 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
Rome's unemployment rate ticked up to 3.4% in September as the labor force expanded by 767 workers over the month and 1,089 over the year, reaching 49,265 — growth in available workers outpacing job creation, which held flat at 47,000 positions. International Paper's September WARN filing for 792 workers, layered onto Hillshire Brands' earlier 168-worker notice, signals manufacturing contraction even as healthcare employers continue to post aggressively for talent across the metro.
What it means
Flat job totals alongside a growing labor force point toward a buyer's market emerging for employers outside healthcare, while manufacturing layoffs from International Paper and Hillshire Brands may release skilled production and logistics talent into a metro where Recruiter advertised pay has dropped significantly to $44,280 and HRIS Analyst pay fell to $82,816. Compensation teams should distinguish between sectors still competing for scarce talent, like healthcare, and sectors where candidate supply is loosening, since applying uniform retention incentives across both risks overpaying in a cooling segment. Consider reviewing exit and retention data by function this quarter to identify where softening local labor supply allows hiring budgets to shift toward targeted retention in healthcare and skilled trades.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Track whether workers from International Paper's 792-person WARN filing register in local unemployment claims or reappear in applicant pools for adjacent manufacturing and logistics employers. A slow absorption rate would signal a widening skills or wage mismatch worth addressing in sourcing strategy.
Worth watching: Rome's unemployment rate moved from 3.3% to 3.4% in a single month after nine consecutive months of statewide labor force records — watch whether this becomes a trend or a one-month fluctuation before adjusting hiring timelines.
Emerging pressure point: Recruiter advertised pay has fallen significantly to $44,280, well under the $67,234 national median. If this persists, expect retention risk among incumbent recruiting staff who can see better-paying remote or regional alternatives.
Potential inflection point: Healthcare hiring demand shows no sign of easing even as manufacturing contracts, raising the question of whether total rewards budgets need rebalancing toward clinical and allied health roles heading into 2027 planning cycles.
Sources
- Georgia Department of Labor — Rome unemployment rose to 3.4%, labor force reached 49,265
- WARN Act Filings (warnact.io) — International Paper filed WARN notice for 792 workers in Georgia
- Layoff Lookout — Hillshire Brands Rome facility WARN notice for 168 workers
- Georgia Department of Labor via WRGA News — Rome ended September with 47,000 jobs, unchanged year-over-year
- Advertised pay data — Recruiter and HRIS Analyst advertised pay declines in Rome metro
- Georgia Economics / Current Employment Statistics — Healthcare dominates job postings in Rome metro
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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