Unemployment rate
4.9%
+0.1 pp vs Aug
unchanged vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro)
Seattle metro economy by the numbers
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metropolitan area is shown here through King County, Pierce County and Snohomish County: Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue, Kent, Everett, Renton, Redmond and Kirkland. 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
4.9%
Sep 2026 · unchanged from a year earlier
Next metro jobs releaseDec 2, 202610:00 ETFull calendar →
Unemployment
4.9%
Sep 2026 · unchanged y/y
Payrolls y/y
1.0%
Sep 2026 · +1.6 pp y/y
House prices y/y
0.3%
Q2 2026 · -2.0 pp y/y
Listing price
$749,970
Sep 2026 · -2.4% y/y
Weekly wages
$2,335
Q1 2026 · +2.5% y/y
CPI y/y
3.8%
Sep 2026 · +0.5 pp y/y
Jobs
Civilian labor force
2,340,379
+1.7% vs Aug
+1.4% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro)
Nonfarm payroll employment
2,140.4K
+0.1% vs Aug
+1.0% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro)
Payroll employment, year over year
1.0%
+0.2 pp vs Aug
+1.6 pp vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro)
Housing
Housing units authorized by building permits
750
-24.2% vs Aug
-47.4% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro)
FHFA house price index (all transactions), Seattle-Bellevue-Kent division
554.9
-0.1% vs Q1
+0.3% vs Q2 2025
Q2 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (Seattle-Bellevue-Kent metropolitan division)
House prices, year over year
0.3%
-0.3 pp vs Q1
-2.0 pp vs Q2 2025
Q2 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (Seattle-Bellevue-Kent metropolitan division)
Median listing price
$749,970
-0.0% vs Aug
-2.4% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Active listings
13,078
+2.9% vs Aug
+28.5% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Median days on market
51
+13.3% vs Aug
+8.5% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Wages
Average weekly wages, all covered employment
$2,335
+0.9% vs Q4
+2.5% vs Q1 2025
Q1 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro)
Prices
Consumer prices, West region, year over year
3.8%
+0.3 pp vs Aug
+0.5 pp vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Consumer Price Index, West region, all items
Unemployment by county
| County | Rate | Year ago | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| King County | 4.8% | 4.8% | unchanged |
| Pierce County | 5.1% | 5.1% | unchanged |
| Snohomish County | 4.9% | 4.9% | unchanged |
Sep 2026, not seasonally adjusted. Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
Why Seattle
Seattle's payrolls track the big technology employers and Boeing, so its unemployment rate moves with layoffs and hiring announcements. FHFA publishes house prices by division; the Seattle-Bellevue-Kent division is shown. The West region CPI stands in for prices; the BLS Seattle index is bi-monthly.
Questions readers ask
- What is the unemployment rate in Seattle?
- The Seattle metro unemployment rate is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Local Area Unemployment Statistics figure for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 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 King County, Pierce County and Snohomish County compare.
- How many jobs does the Seattle 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 Seattle 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.
- Seattle metro unemployment rate: 4.9% in September 2026, unchanged from 4.9% in September 2025; prior reading 4.8% (August 2026). Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Seattle metro civilian labor force: 2,340,379 in September 2026, up 1.4% from 2,307,951 in September 2025; prior reading 2,300,853 (August 2026). Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Seattle metro nonfarm payroll employment: 2,140.4 thousand in September 2026, up 1.0% from 2,120.0 thousand in September 2025; prior reading 2,137.3 thousand (August 2026). Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED; seasonally adjusted.
- Seattle metro payroll employment, year over year: 1.0% in September 2026, up 1.6 percentage points from -0.6% in September 2025; prior reading 0.8% (August 2026). Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; seasonally adjusted.
- Seattle metro housing units authorized by building permits: 750 in September 2026, down 47.4% from 1,425 in September 2025; prior reading 990 (August 2026). Source: Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Seattle metro FHFA house price index (all transactions), Seattle-Bellevue-Kent division: 554.9 in Q2 2026, up 0.3% from 553.1 in Q2 2025; prior reading 555.2 (Q1 2026). Source: FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (Seattle-Bellevue-Kent metropolitan division), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Seattle metro house prices, year over year: 0.3% in Q2 2026, down 2.0 percentage points from 2.4% in Q2 2025; prior reading 0.6% (Q1 2026). Source: FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (Seattle-Bellevue-Kent metropolitan division), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; not seasonally adjusted.
- Seattle metro median listing price: $749,970 in September 2026, down 2.4% from $768,750 in September 2025; prior reading $750,000 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Seattle metro active listings: 13,078 in September 2026, up 28.5% from 10,177 in September 2025; prior reading 12,712 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Seattle metro median days on market: 51 in September 2026, up 8.5% from 47 in September 2025; prior reading 45 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Seattle metro average weekly wages, all covered employment: $2,335 in Q1 2026, up 2.5% from $2,278 in Q1 2025; prior reading $2,313 (Q4 2025). Source: BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro), via FRED; seasonally adjusted.
- Seattle metro consumer prices, West region, year over year: 3.8% in September 2026, up 0.5 percentage points from 3.3% in September 2025; prior reading 3.5% (August 2026). Source: BLS Consumer Price Index, West region, all items, via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; not seasonally adjusted.
- King County unemployment rate: 4.8% in September 2026, unchanged from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Pierce County unemployment rate: 5.1% in September 2026, unchanged from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Snohomish County unemployment rate: 4.9% in September 2026, unchanged from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
Fact sheet id b50ff0beab14 · 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 (Seattle-Bellevue-Kent metropolitan division); Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro); BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro); BLS Consumer Price Index, West 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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