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© 2026 ShouldApply. All rights reserved. | Seattle, WA

Monthly Market Report

February 2026 Job Market

50

postings scored across 41 companies

Fit scores, skill demand, salary transparency, ghost job analysis.

58/100 Avg Fit Score
66% Salary Disclosed
30% Remote Listings
0% Ghost Signal Rate

Key Metrics

50

Jobs Analyzed

50 scored

41

Companies Hiring

unique employers

58

Avg Fit Score

out of 100

66%

Salary Disclosed

33 listings

30%

Remote Listings

of all postings

0%

Ghost Signal Rate

of postings


Executive Summary

The scoring engine processed 50 job postings in February 2026, running them against active candidate profiles to generate 50 fit scores. The average fit score was 58 — lower than you'd want, and a sign that this month's postings had specific requirements that most profiles didn't fully meet. 21 postings (42%) scored below 60, meaning the fit was too thin to compete without significant profile improvement.

On the demand side, E-commerce, Bachelor's Degree, Data Analysis led across all scored postings. The gap picture this month was relatively distributed, without a single skill dominating as a universal weakness. The L-level breakdown — which measures required skill depth from L1 (basic awareness) to L5 (architect-grade expertise) — reveals which skills are commoditized versus genuinely differentiating. Skills sitting at L3 or higher are where candidates get separated from the pack.

Salary transparency was above average at 66% — enough to draw meaningful conclusions about compensation ranges. 30% of postings were listed as remote or remote-friendly. Ghost job signals were relatively low at 0%, suggesting above-average listing quality this month. The salary data, skill rankings, and company breakdown below pull from the same scored dataset — not survey data, not self-reported figures.


Fit Score Distribution

How scored postings spread across the 0–100 range. Scores below 60 represent thin fit; 75+ is where applications compete well.

0–39
12%
40–59
2040%
60–74
2958%
75–89
00%
90–100
00%

21

Below 60 (weak fit)

29

60–74 (partial fit)

0

75+ (strong fit)

Fit scores weight profile match at 70% and resume match at 30%. A score of 75+ means the candidate's skills, experience level, seniority, and logistics overlap enough to compete. See how fit scores work for the full methodology.


Top In-Demand Skills — February 2026

Ranked by how often each skill appeared in scored postings. L-level indicates the typical required depth: L1 is basic familiarity, L5 is architecture-level expertise. Skills above L3 signal roles where depth actually matters. Full skill profiles at /skills.

#SkillDemandDepthTop RolePostings
1E-commerce
18%
avg L5 (4.9)Marketing9
2Bachelor's Degree
14%
avg L3 (3.4)Marketing7
3Data Analysis
12%
avg L4 (4.2)Marketing6
4Digital Marketing
12%
avg L4 (4.3)Marketing6
5Analytical Skills
10%
avg L4 (4.2)Marketing5
6Marketing Strategy
10%
avg L4 (4)Marketing5
7Analytics & Reporting
10%
avg L4 (4)Marketing5
8Communication
8%
avg L5 (4.5)—4
9Content Creation
8%
avg L5 (4.5)Marketing4
10Project Management
8%
avg L3 (3.3)Marketing4
11SEO
6%
avg L5 (5)—3
12Cross-Functional Leadership
6%
avg L4 (3.7)Marketing3
13Go-to-Market Strategy
6%
avg L4 (3.7)Marketing3
14Product Marketing
6%
avg L2 (1.7)Marketing3
15Data-Driven Insights
6%
avg L4 (4)Marketing3
16Market Analysis
6%
avg L4 (3.7)Marketing3

Depth levels (L1–L5) derived from how surrounding job description context describes required experience. See the L-level system explained. Browse all tracked skills at /skills.



Salary Insights

Based on 33 postings that disclosed compensation out of 50 total (66% transparency rate). Midpoint is used where both min and max are listed.

$115K

Median Salary

$122K

Average Salary

$70K

Floor

$215K

Ceiling

Remote vs. On-Site Compensation

$117K

Average — Remote listings

$123K

Average — On-site listings

+$6K above remote avg

Salary by Role Category

Roles with at least 3 salary-disclosing postings

RoleMedianAverageRangen
Software Engineering$130K$150K$106K – $215K3
Other$112K$119K$70K – $200K8
Marketing$116K$118K$70K – $191K20

Top Hiring Companies — February 2026

Companies with the most active postings this month. Avg score reflects how well those postings matched the candidate profiles that viewed them. High ghost rates suggest the company posts frequently but may not actively fill those roles. Company profiles at /companies.

#CompanyListingsAvg ScoreRemoteGhost Rate
1Amazon Web Services, Inc.
5
62On-site0%
2Agoda
4
51On-site0%
3Seattle Bank
2
63On-site0%
4EDF
2
42On-site0%

Ghost Job Analysis

Ghost jobs are postings that show low hiring intent — old posting dates, no salary disclosure, and generic descriptions that suggest the role isn't actively filling. ShouldApply scores each listing across multiple quality signals. Learn how ghost job detection works.

0%

of postings with ghost signals

0

postings with at least one ghost signal

50

postings with clean quality signals

Ghost signals are based on: posting age (45+ days), absence of salary data, and vague job description content. A listing can have one or more signals. The dashboard flags these automatically so you can deprioritize them. Full ghost job methodology.


Market Observations — February 2026

Patterns worth noting from this month's dataset. Not statistical projections — just what the numbers show.

Depth requirements are rising in specific areas

E-commerce, Data Analysis, Digital Marketing averaged 4.9+ on the depth scale this month — meaning postings weren't looking for familiarity, they required working fluency. Skills at L5+ are where candidates get separated from the pile. E-commerce skill profile →

By contrast, Product Marketing appeared frequently but at low depth (L2), which means they're table stakes — worth having, but not differentiating.

On-site roles carried a pay premium

Remote listings averaged $117K vs. $123K for on-site — a $6K gap. With 30% of postings flagged as remote, the supply of remote work is still tighter than demand.

Salary disclosure stayed above the 50% threshold

66% of postings included compensation data this month. The median was $115K, which holds in line with market expectations for the skills in demand. State-level salary transparency laws (Colorado, New York, Washington) push overall rates up, but the remaining 34% of listings still leave candidates negotiating blind.


How This Report Is Built

Data transparency matters. Here's exactly what goes into these numbers.

Data Sources

Job postings are pulled from five sources: JSearch, Remotive, Adzuna, Arbeitnow, and Wellfound. Each source is refreshed every 2–6 hours. Cross-source duplicates are removed using a SHA-256 content hash plus Jaccard title similarity (threshold: 0.8) within the same company.

Quality filters remove thin descriptions (under 100 words), postings from blocked domains, and non-English listings. What's left goes into the scoring pipeline.

Scoring Methodology

Each posting is scored against a candidate's profile using a five-dimension model: Skills Match, Experience Level, Seniority Alignment, Industry Fit, and Logistics (salary, remote, location). The overall score is 70% profile fit + 30% resume match.

Skill depth (L1–L5) is extracted from surrounding context in the job description — not just keyword presence. SHA-256 input hashing prevents re-scoring identical profile+JD combinations, keeping the dataset efficient.

Ghost Job Signals

A posting is flagged as having ghost signals if it was posted more than 45 days ago and includes no salary data. This is one component of a broader additive ghost probability model (capped at 95%) that also weighs applicant count, vague description quality, and reposting patterns. See ghost job methodology for the full model.

Report Freshness

Monthly reports are computed from all jobs created during the calendar month. This page is cached with a 7-day ISR window — data updates weekly as new postings are scored. Salary figures use the midpoint of disclosed min/max ranges where both values are present. Minimums of 3 data points are required before salary stats are shown.

Sample size: 50 postingsScored: 50Salary sample: 33Companies: 41Period: February 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the fit score calculated?
The fit score is a 0–100 number. It weights profile fit at 70% and resume match at 30%. Profile fit covers five dimensions: Skills Match, Experience Level, Seniority Alignment, Industry Fit, and Logistics (salary, location, remote preference). Each job description is parsed by the scoring engine to extract specific requirements, which are then compared against the candidate's profile and resume text. The result is a single number with a breakdown showing exactly where points were lost.
What is a ghost job?
A ghost job is a listing that shows low hiring intent — typically because it's been posted for a long time without being filled, has vague requirements, or lacks salary data. Companies sometimes keep listings live to collect resumes passively, or forgot to close a filled role. ShouldApply scores ghost probability additively using multiple signals capped at 95%. You can learn more in the ghost job red flags guide.
How often is this report updated?
Monthly reports are cached with a 7-day ISR window, meaning the underlying data refreshes weekly. Job postings themselves are pulled from five sources every 2–6 hours. The monthly report always reflects all postings scored during that calendar month — it's not a snapshot of a single day.
What does L1–L5 skill depth mean?
The L-level system measures required expertise depth, not just keyword presence. L1 is basic awareness or familiarity. L2 is working knowledge. L3 is daily professional use. L4 is advanced usage with mentoring ability. L5 is architect-grade mastery. The scoring engine reads the surrounding context in job descriptions to assign depth — "familiar with React" maps differently than "lead React architecture decisions." See the skills index for depth data across hundreds of tracked skills.
Where does the salary data come from?
Salary figures come directly from job postings that disclose compensation. When a posting lists both a minimum and maximum, the midpoint is used. Only postings with a disclosed salary figure above $10,000/year are included. A minimum of 3 data points is required before any salary statistic is shown. The 66% transparency rate this month means 34% of postings gave no salary signal at all — those listings are excluded from salary analysis but still counted in all other stats.
What job sources does ShouldApply pull from?
Five sources: JSearch, Remotive, Adzuna, Arbeitnow, and Wellfound. Each has its own refresh cadence — JSearch refreshes every 6 hours, others every 3 hours. Cross-source duplicates are removed using a content hash and title similarity check. This means a job posted on both Indeed (via JSearch) and directly on Adzuna will only appear once in the dataset.
How do I see my own fit scores against these postings?
Create a free account at ShouldApply, upload your resume or fill out your skills profile, and the scoring engine will run your profile against available postings automatically. Free accounts get up to 3 scored jobs to start. Start scoring now →
How is this different from LinkedIn's job match percentage?
LinkedIn's match percentage is keyword-based — it checks if your profile words appear in the job description. ShouldApply's scoring model is multi-dimensional: it compares skill depth (L1–L5), experience level alignment, seniority match, industry context, and logistics simultaneously. It also outputs a specific gap analysis showing exactly what it would take to improve your score on any given posting. The goal isn't a match percentage — it's a decision engine that tells you whether applying is worth your time.

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