US Jobs Report: Mining Down 10,000 Jobs

It’s a familiar story now. For another consecutive month, despite the U.S. adding 38,000 jobs in March, jobs in mining declined.

Data released today from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that mining jobs declined by 10,000 in May, totaling a loss of 207,000 jobs since peaking in September 2014. Jobs in oil and gas extraction declined by 1,700 (with data seasonally adjusted). Support activities for mining accounted for three quarters of the job losses in May (6,100 with data seasonally adjusted).

Oil and gas companies have skimmed and trimmed capital expenditures (CAPEX) steadily since the beginning of the downturn and unfortunately, reducing headcounts has been a reoccurring part of the formula. The total number of jobs lost globally due to the downturn surpassed 350,000 in May, according to Houston-based consulting firm Graves & Co. The upstream sector, which includes oilfield services companies and drilling companies have been hit extremely hard, accounting for 43 percent and 15 percent of the layoffs, respectively.     



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