Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction: NAICS 21

About the Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction sector

The mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector is part of the natural resources and mining supersector.

The Mining sector comprises establishments that extract naturally occurring mineral solids, such as coal and ores; liquid minerals, such as crude petroleum; and gases, such as natural gas. The term mining is used in the broad sense to include quarrying, well operations, beneficiating (e.g., crushing, screening, washing, and flotation), and other preparation customarily performed at the mine site, or as a part of mining activity.

North American Industry Classification System

The mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector consists of these subsectors:

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, union membership and representation, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, and Layoffs

Data series Back
data
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008
Sep.
2008

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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710.2 719.4 (P) 730.3 (P) 738.5

Employment, production workers

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529.7 539.7 (P) 555.7  

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

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3.3% 1.5% 1.9% 2.8%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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(1) - (1) - 3  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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(1) - (1) - 207  

Footnotes
(1) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Union Membership and Representation

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data
2004 2005 2006 2007

Union membership and representation

 

Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

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11.4% 8.0% 7.5% 9.3%

Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

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11.7% 9.5% 8.8% 10.2%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Extended Mass Layoffs

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data
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008

Extended mass layoff events

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4 27 (P) 5 (P) 3

Separations

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677 3,584 (P) 474 (P) 627

Initial claimants

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530 3,494 (P) 428 (P) 335

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2007

First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers

24,760

Helpers--extraction workers

18,370

Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers

3,810

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

30,290

Roustabouts, oil and gas

48,050

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours for production or nonsupervisory employees, as well as weekly earnings by union membership status, are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.

Earnings and Hours of Production Workers

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data
May
2008
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008

Average hourly earnings

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$21.94 $22.20 $22.99 (P) $23.59

Average weekly hours

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44.4 45.5 44.9 (P) 45.8

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Union Membership and Representation

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data
Median weekly earnings
2004 2005 2006 2007

Union membership and representation

 

Full-time workers

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$874 $885 $912 $969

Members of unions

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$905 $995 $1,041 $960

Represented by unions

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$911 $989 $1,044 $950

Nonunion

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$865 $870 $899 $975

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2007
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers

$29.74 $30.93 $61,860 $64,340

Helpers--extraction workers

$15.44 $16.01 $32,110 $33,290

Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers

$35.95 $39.45 $74,770 $82,060

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

$17.81 $18.91 $37,040 $39,330

Roustabouts, oil and gas

$13.91 $14.82 $28,930 $30,820

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.

Data series 2004 2005 2006 2007

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

152 159 192 (P) 181

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

 

Total recordable cases

3.8 3.6 3.5  

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

2.3 2.2 2.1  

Cases involving days away from work

1.6 1.5 1.4  

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.6 0.8 0.7  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Prices

This section provides industry-specific pricing information. The producer price index measures the percentage change in prices that domestic producers receive for goods and services. The prices included in the producer price index are from the first commercial transaction. The import price index reflects the percentage change in prices paid to foreign producers for their goods and services within the U.S., while the export price index measures the percentage change in prices received by U.S. producers for goods and services sold outside the U.S.

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data
May
2008
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008

Producer price index

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(P) 328.9 (P) 345.9 (P) 368.9 (P) 306.9

Percent change from previous month

 

(P) 9.1% (P) 5.2% (P) 6.6% (P) -16.8%

Import index

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(R) 195.2 (R) 213.2 (R) 211.2 183.1

Percent change from previous month

 

(R) 9.5% (R) 9.2% (R) -0.9% (R) -13.3%

Export index

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113.1 115.1 (R) 110.2 102.7

Percent change from previous month

 

3.9% 1.8% (R) -4.3% (R) -6.8%

Footnotes
(R) Revised
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.

Establishments

Data series Back
data
1st quarter
2007
2nd quarter
2007
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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(P) 28,858 (P) 29,237 (P) 29,613 (P) 29,716

Local government

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(P) 7 (P) 7 (P) 7 (P) 6

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

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data
2003 2004 2005 2006

Labor productivity index, output per hour

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115.974 106.762 95.988 87.206

Percent change from previous year

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2.1 -7.9 -10.1 -9.1

Labor index, total labor hours

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80.931 86.669 94.423 104.754

Percent change from previous year

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-2.4 7.1 8.9 10.9

Output index

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93.859 92.529 90.635 91.352

Percent change from previous year

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-0.4 -1.4 -2.0 0.8

Unit labor costs index

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115.176 129.762 154.564 182.421

Percent change from previous year

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2.3 12.7 19.1 18.0

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

The Editor's Desk

See industry studies in the subject matter index of The Editor's Desk (Current Edition).

Career Guide to Industries

To learn about careers from an industry perspective, see the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: October 08, 2008