US Sheds 8,000 Mining Jobs in December

Despite the United States adding 292,000 jobs in December, jobs in mining continued to decline – this month by 8,000. The majority of those job losses (5,500) were in support activities for mining, according to the jobs report released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The oil and gas industry struggled tremendously in 2015 as companies were forced to cope with a low cost oil environment due to oversupply. The employment statistics reflect this struggle. Employment in mining in 2015 was a far cry from what it was in 2014. The United States added 41,000 mining jobs in 2014, however there was a loss of 129,000 mining jobs in 2015.

Additionally, oil and gas extraction continued their decline – 900 oil jobs were lost in December.   

Industry analysts and experts have expressed that 2016 will be another difficult year for the industry, which saw a quarter of a million jobs lost globally in 2015. Some companies have announced they will be laying off employees through 2017. The consensus for most in the industry is not to expect a full market recovery in 2016.