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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, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Unemployment

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

596.2 600.2 (p)598.0 (p)598.1

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees

460.3 462.6 (p)454.0  

Unemployment

Unemployment rate

2.2% 1.7% 3.0% 4.2%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, and Current Population Survey)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
2020 2021 2022 2023

Union membership and representation

Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

5.6% 5.7% 6.5% 4.3%

Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

6.6% 6.0% 7.7% 4.9%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2022

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

28,450

Helpers--extraction workers

3,910

Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers

2,600

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

22,920

Roustabouts, oil and gas

33,740

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage 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, 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 All Employees

Data series Back
data
Oct.
2023
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$39.22 $38.82 $39.33 (p)$39.75

Average weekly hours

45.5 45.4 45.6 (p)44.4

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
Oct.
2023
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$35.20 $35.11 $36.24 (p)$36.65

Average weekly hours

49.4 48.7 48.3 (p)47.3

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
Median weekly earnings
2020 2021 2022 2023

Union membership and representation

Full-time workers

$1,444 $1,317 $1,504 $1,424

Members of unions

-$ -$ -$ -$

Represented by unions

-$ -$ -$ -$

Nonunion

$1,449 $1,315 $1,488 $1,438

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2022
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

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

$39.59 $42.94 $82,340 $89,320

Helpers--extraction workers

$21.45 $21.42 $44,620 $44,550

Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers

$47.54 $50.29 $98,870 $104,610

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

$24.13 $25.78 $50,180 $53,620

Roustabouts, oil and gas

$21.33 $22.14 $44,370 $46,060

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage 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 2019 2020 2021 2022

Fatalities

Number of fatalities

127 78 95 113

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Data series 2022

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

Total recordable cases

1.4

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

1.0

Cases involving days away from work

0.7

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.3

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(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.

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Producer price index

(p)222.338 (p)212.938 (p)221.297 (p)226.609

Percent change from previous month

  (p)-3.0% (p)-4.2% (p)3.9% (p)2.4%

Import index

148.5 (r)134.7 (r)134.5 139.9

Percent change from previous month

  -7.1% (r)-9.3% (r)-0.1% (r)4.0%

Export index

108.0 (r)105.0 (r)112.2 114.8

Percent change from previous month

  -3.9% (r)-2.8% (r)6.9% (r)2.3%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary
(r) Revised

(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
4th quarter
2022
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023

Number of establishments

Private industry

31,142 (p)30,911 (p)30,916 (p)31,154

Local government

6 (p)6 (p)6 (p)6

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series Back
data
2019 2020 2021 2022

Labor productivity index, output per hour

171.508 208.819 219.793 204.517

Percent change from previous year

7.1 21.8 5.3 -7.0

Labor index, total labor hours

88.841 67.758 65.229 73.293

Percent change from previous year

1.3 -23.7 -3.7 12.4

Output index

152.369 141.493 143.368 149.897

Percent change from previous year

8.4 -7.1 1.3 4.6

Unit labor costs index

62.049 54.797 51.364 57.439

Percent change from previous year

-3.7 -11.7 -6.3 11.8

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

 

Data extracted on: March 15, 2024