USA Oilfield Services Jobs Fall in November

Employment in the U.S. oilfield services and equipment sector fell by an estimated 818 jobs in November after eight straight months of growth.

That’s according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and analysis by the Energy Workforce & Technology Council (EWTC). Losses were sharpest in oil and gas extraction, as well as support activity, the EWTC highlighted, adding that the November decrease comes as overall U.S. job growth marked the worst month this year.

The oilfield services and equipment sector has added slightly more than 55,000 jobs since March after hitting a pandemic low of 597,067 jobs in February, the EWTC noted, citing BLS data. Sector employment has grown at an average monthly rate of 0.92 percent in 2021 as companies have maintained focus on reducing debt, repaying investors and investing in research and development, the EWTC said.

The organization estimates a peak of more than 109,000 pandemic-related job losses. Using BLS data, the EWTC, in consultation with researchers from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston, found that reductions were heaviest in April 2020, when the sector shed 57,294 jobs. This is said to be the largest one month total since at least 2013. 

Employment in the U.S. energy technology and services sector rose by an estimated 6,051 jobs in October, an eighth straight month of growth, the EWTC outlined last month, citing preliminary data from the BLS and EWTC analysis.

Each month, the EWTC uses data published by the BLS to estimate oilfield services and equipment sector employment. The organization notes that employment is a key indicator of the health of the oilfield services sector, which it says plays a critical role in the technology-driven energy value chain.

The EWTC is the national trade association for the energy technology and services sector, representing more than 600,000 jobs in the technology-driven energy value chain, the organization’s website states. The organization was founded in 1933 as the American Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association and formed by a merging of the Petroleum Equipment & Services Association and the Association of Energy Service Companies.

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