An official website of the United States government
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:
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.
Data series | Back data |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
Aug. 2024 |
Sep. 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Employment (in thousands) |
|||||
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted) |
595.9 | 596.7 | (p)597.6 | (p)600.5 | |
460.1 | 461.8 | (p)464.9 | |||
Unemployment |
|||||
1.3% | 5.4% | 3.5% | 2.0% | ||
Footnotes |
(Source: Current Employment Statistics, and Current Population Survey)
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)
Data series | Employment, 2023 |
---|---|
First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers |
31,720 |
4,310 | |
Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers |
2,480 |
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators |
25,170 |
37,890 |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
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)
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.
Data series | Back data |
May 2024 |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
Aug. 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$40.09 | $40.53 | $40.02 | (p)$40.01 | ||
44.4 | 45.3 | 44.0 | (p)44.5 | ||
Footnotes |
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Data series | Back data |
May 2024 |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
Aug. 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$36.72 | $36.72 | $36.82 | (p)$36.62 | ||
47.5 | 47.7 | 46.6 | (p)47.2 | ||
Footnotes |
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Data series | Back data |
Median weekly earnings | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||
Union membership and representation |
|||||
$1,444 | $1,317 | $1,504 | $1,424 | ||
-$ | -$ | -$ | -$ | ||
-$ | -$ | -$ | -$ | ||
$1,449 | $1,315 | $1,488 | $1,438 |
(Source: Current Population Survey)
Data series | Wages, 2023 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Hourly | Annual | |||
Median | Mean | Median | Mean | |
First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers |
$43.09 | $45.51 | $89,620 | $94,650 |
$22.09 | $22.75 | $45,940 | $47,320 | |
Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers |
$48.74 | $51.08 | $101,390 | $106,250 |
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators |
$26.00 | $27.64 | $54,080 | $57,490 |
$22.40 | $23.03 | $46,600 | $47,900 |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
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 |
||||
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 |
|
1.4 | |
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer |
1.0 |
0.7 | |
0.3 | |
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. |
(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)
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 |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
Aug. 2024 |
Sep. 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(p)220.953 | (p)225.503 | (p)216.933 | (p)201.953 | ||
Percent change from previous month |
(p)1.1% | (p)2.1% | (p)-3.8% | (p)-6.9% | |
(r)146.5 | (r)148.7 | (r)142.0 | 132.9 | ||
Percent change from previous month |
(r)-1.2% | (r)1.5% | (r)-4.5% | (r)-6.4% | |
106.0 | (r)106.4 | (r)103.3 | 97.5 | ||
Percent change from previous month |
-0.4% | (r)0.4% | (r)-2.9% | (r)-5.6% | |
(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)
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.
Data series | Back data |
2nd quarter 2023 |
3rd quarter 2023 |
4th quarter 2023 |
1st quarter 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of establishments |
|||||
30,848 | 30,975 | 31,020 | (p)31,028 | ||
6 | 6 | 6 | (p)8 | ||
Footnotes |
(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)
This section presents productivity and related data for the industry, presented as the percent change from the previous year. Measures of total factor productivity (TFP) compare growth in output to the growth in a combination of inputs that include labor, capital, energy, materials, and services. Measures of labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked.
Data series | Back data |
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3.8 | 7.4 | -7.6 | -8.8 | ||
8.0 | -15.0 | 2.1 | 8.0 | ||
4.0 | -20.9 | 10.4 | 18.4 | ||
5.8 | -0.4 | -0.4 | 0.3 | ||
0.7 | -23.5 | -3.9 | 12.6 | ||
7.1 | 12.4 | 5.3 | -4.0 |
(Source: Productivity)
Data extracted on: October 31, 2024