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Mining employment trends of 2007�: a question of prices
Brian Davidson
Brian Davidson is an economist in the Division of Current Employment Statistics in the Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. E-mail: davidson.brian@bls.gov
Employment trends in mining during the 2007� recession can be better understood through analysis of commodity indices and other major economic indicators
Employment within the mining industry 1 followed a different pattern than that of most other industries during the 2007� recession. 2 Indicators such as commodity prices, global demand for mining output, and industrial production help tell the story of how job growth within mining continued through the first 10 months of the recession while total nonfarm employment was falling.
Increasing energy and commodity prices and industrial production fueled job growth in mining, leading to an employment peak of 728,000 in the sector in September 2008, the highest level since June 1986. Employment then fell over the next 13 months before reaching a trough in October 2009, 4 months after the recession had ended. In the decade or so leading up to the recession, employment among the subsectors within mining followed similar long-term growth trends, while support activities for mining was the primary source of employment gains in the sector.
1 In this article, the term 搈ining industry� is used to denote the industry known as the 搈ining division� under the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system or the 搈ining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector� in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
2 Recessions are identified by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). According to the NBER, the most recent recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. The previous two recessions were from March 2001 to November 2001 and from July 1990 to March 1991. For a complete list of business cycle dates, consult the NBER webpage at www.nber.org/cycles/cyclesmain.html (visited Nov. 2, 2010).
The data on employment used in this article are from the CES survey, which is a monthly survey of approximately 140,000 nonfarm businesses and government agencies representing approximately 440,000 individual worksites. For more information on the CES program抯 methods, see 揟echnical Notes to Establishment Survey Data Published in Employment and Earnings� at www.bls.gov//web/empsit/cestn2.htm (visited Apr. 13, 2011). CES data are available at www.bls.gov/ces/ (visited Apr. 13, 2011). The CES data used in this article are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise noted.
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