Unemployment rate
2.7%
-0.4 pp vs Aug
-0.5 pp vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro)
Raleigh metro economy by the numbers
The Raleigh-Cary, NC metropolitan area is shown here through Wake County, Johnston County and Franklin County: Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Wake Forest, Holly Springs, Garner and Clayton. These are the official monthly and quarterly numbers for the metro's jobs, housing, wages and prices, each one dated and linked to its source, updated the day the agency publishes.
Unemployment rate
2.7%
Sep 2026 · -0.5 pp from a year earlier
Next metro jobs releaseDec 2, 202610:00 ETFull calendar →
Unemployment
2.7%
Sep 2026 · -0.5 pp y/y
Payrolls y/y
2.1%
Sep 2026 · -0.3 pp y/y
House prices y/y
1.1%
Q2 2026 · -0.8 pp y/y
Listing price
$445,000
Sep 2026 · -2.6% y/y
Weekly wages
$1,532
Q1 2026 · +2.3% y/y
CPI y/y
3.7%
Sep 2026 · +1.0 pp y/y
Jobs
Civilian labor force
869,411
+0.7% vs Aug
+0.5% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro)
Nonfarm payroll employment
785.5K
+0.1% vs Aug
+2.1% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro)
Payroll employment, year over year
2.1%
-0.2 pp vs Aug
-0.3 pp vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro)
Housing
Housing units authorized by building permits
964
-31.3% vs Aug
-19.0% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro)
FHFA house price index (all transactions)
367.2
-0.1% vs Q1
+1.1% vs Q2 2025
Q2 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro)
House prices, year over year
1.1%
+0.2 pp vs Q1
-0.8 pp vs Q2 2025
Q2 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro)
Median listing price
$445,000
-1.1% vs Aug
-2.6% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Active listings
6,125
+1.7% vs Aug
+7.6% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Median days on market
59
unchanged vs Aug
unchanged vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Wages
Average weekly wages, all covered employment
$1,532
-0.3% vs Q4
+2.3% vs Q1 2025
Q1 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro)
Prices
Consumer prices, South region, year over year
3.7%
+0.3 pp vs Aug
+1.0 pp vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Consumer Price Index, South region, all items
Unemployment by county
| County | Rate | Year ago | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wake County | 2.8% | 3.1% | -0.3 pp |
| Johnston County | 2.7% | 3.1% | -0.4 pp |
| Franklin County | 2.8% | 3.3% | -0.5 pp |
Sep 2026, not seasonally adjusted. Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
Why Raleigh
Raleigh-Cary, anchored by the Research Triangle, carries one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and a housing market driven by life sciences and technology hiring. The South region CPI stands in for prices.
Questions readers ask
- What is the unemployment rate in Raleigh?
- The Raleigh metro unemployment rate is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Local Area Unemployment Statistics figure for the Raleigh-Cary, NC metropolitan statistical area, not seasonally adjusted, published about six weeks after the month ends. The headline at the top of this page is the latest print; the county table shows how Wake County, Johnston County and Franklin County compare.
- How many jobs does the Raleigh metro have?
- Nonfarm payroll employment counts jobs on employer payrolls in the metro, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, from the BLS Current Employment Statistics survey. The year-over-year line shows whether hiring is accelerating or slowing; it is the cleanest single read on the local labor market.
- Are Raleigh home prices going up or down?
- Two measures are shown. The FHFA house price index tracks repeat sales of the same homes each quarter, so it measures price change rather than the mix of what sold. The Realtor.com median listing price is the monthly asking price of homes on the market; with active listings and days on market it shows how the market feels to a buyer today.
- Where do these numbers come from?
- Every series is a public federal statistic (BLS, Census Bureau, FHFA) or Realtor.com's monthly housing inventory, retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED database. Each figure links to its source series. MarketIntelLabs computes the year-over-year changes and writes the fact sheet; nothing on this page is estimated or modelled.
Fact sheet
Every figure above, as one dated sentence each. This is the text our desk writes from; a local newsroom may quote it with attribution to the source named in each line.
- Raleigh metro unemployment rate: 2.7% in September 2026, down 0.5 percentage points from 3.2% in September 2025; prior reading 3.1% (August 2026). Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Raleigh metro civilian labor force: 869,411 in September 2026, up 0.5% from 865,257 in September 2025; prior reading 863,519 (August 2026). Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Raleigh metro nonfarm payroll employment: 785.5 thousand in September 2026, up 2.1% from 769.6 thousand in September 2025; prior reading 784.8 thousand (August 2026). Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED; seasonally adjusted.
- Raleigh metro payroll employment, year over year: 2.1% in September 2026, down 0.3 percentage points from 2.4% in September 2025; prior reading 2.3% (August 2026). Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; seasonally adjusted.
- Raleigh metro housing units authorized by building permits: 964 in September 2026, down 19.0% from 1,190 in September 2025; prior reading 1,403 (August 2026). Source: Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Raleigh metro FHFA house price index (all transactions): 367.2 in Q2 2026, up 1.1% from 363.2 in Q2 2025; prior reading 367.5 (Q1 2026). Source: FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Raleigh metro house prices, year over year: 1.1% in Q2 2026, down 0.8 percentage points from 1.9% in Q2 2025; prior reading 0.9% (Q1 2026). Source: FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; not seasonally adjusted.
- Raleigh metro median listing price: $445,000 in September 2026, down 2.6% from $457,000 in September 2025; prior reading $450,000 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Raleigh metro active listings: 6,125 in September 2026, up 7.6% from 5,691 in September 2025; prior reading 6,024 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Raleigh metro median days on market: 59 in September 2026, unchanged from 59 in September 2025; prior reading 59 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Raleigh metro average weekly wages, all covered employment: $1,532 in Q1 2026, up 2.3% from $1,498 in Q1 2025; prior reading $1,538 (Q4 2025). Source: BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro), via FRED; seasonally adjusted.
- Raleigh metro consumer prices, South region, year over year: 3.7% in September 2026, up 1.0 percentage point from 2.7% in September 2025; prior reading 3.4% (August 2026). Source: BLS Consumer Price Index, South region, all items, via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; not seasonally adjusted.
- Wake County unemployment rate: 2.8% in September 2026, down 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Johnston County unemployment rate: 2.7% in September 2026, down 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Franklin County unemployment rate: 2.8% in September 2026, down 0.5 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
Fact sheet id f3bda7b9cd93 · data through Sep 2026
Sources: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro); BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro); Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro); FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro); Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro); BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro); BLS Consumer Price Index, South region, all items. Official statistics retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED database; MarketIntelLabs computes the changes shown. Nothing on this page is estimated.
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