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
Jan.
2013
Feb.
2013
Mar.
2013
Apr.
2013

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

Jump to page with historical data
814.1 817.0 (P) 817.4 (P) 813.9

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees

Jump to page with historical data
583.4 589.5 (P) 592.7  

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

Jump to page with historical data
9.6% 4.8% 6.1% 6.1%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

Jump to page with historical data
11 4 10  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

Jump to page with historical data
811 311 845  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

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

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
2009 2010 2011 2012

Union membership and representation

 

Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

Jump to page with historical data
8.6% 8.0% 7.2% 7.2%

Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

Jump to page with historical data
9.5% 8.8% 7.8% 7.7%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Extended Mass Layoffs

Data series Back
data
2nd quarter
2012
3rd quarter
2012
4th quarter
2012
1st quarter
2013

Extended mass layoff events

Jump to page with historical data
13 14 (P) 42 (P) 11

Separations

Jump to page with historical data
1,841 2,043 (P) 5,073 (P) 1,575

Initial claimants

Jump to page with historical data
1,594 1,802 (P) 5,384 (P) 1,064

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2012

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

32,720

Helpers--extraction workers

22,530

Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers

3,340

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

31,450

Roustabouts, oil and gas

53,550

(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, 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
Dec.
2012
Jan.
2013
Feb.
2013
Mar.
2013

Average hourly earnings

Jump to page with historical data
$29.79 $29.81 $29.58 (P) $29.80

Average weekly hours

Jump to page with historical data
43.9 42.6 43.1 (P) 42.9

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
Dec.
2012
Jan.
2013
Feb.
2013
Mar.
2013

Average hourly earnings

Jump to page with historical data
$26.80 $26.77 $26.93 (P) $27.09

Average weekly hours

Jump to page with historical data
46.1 44.8 45.7 (P) 45.6

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
Median weekly earnings
2009 2010 2011 2012

Union membership and representation

 

Full-time workers

Jump to page with historical data
$1,050 $1,032 $1,064 $1,112

Members of unions

Jump to page with historical data
$1,013 $1,076 $1,030 $1,119

Represented by unions

Jump to page with historical data
$1,015 $1,053 $1,005 $1,112

Nonunion

Jump to page with historical data
$1,058 $1,026 $1,069 $1,113

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2012
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

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

$33.47 $35.43 $69,610 $73,690

Helpers--extraction workers

$15.59 $16.56 $32,430 $34,450

Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers

$40.12 $42.82 $83,440 $89,060

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

$20.18 $21.15 $41,980 $43,990

Roustabouts, oil and gas

$16.61 $17.35 $34,550 $36,080

(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 2008 2009 2010 2011

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

176 100 172 155

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

 

Total recordable cases

2.9 2.4 2.3 2.2

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

2.0 1.5 1.4 1.4

Cases involving days away from work

1.3 1.1 1.0 0.9

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.7 0.4 0.4 0.5

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
Jan.
2013
Feb.
2013
Mar.
2013
Apr.
2013

Producer price index

Jump to page with historical data
(P) 232.7 (P) 232.5 (P) 228.4 (P) 236.2

Percent change from previous month

  (P) 2.2% (P) -0.1% (P) -1.8% (P) 3.4%

Import index

Jump to page with historical data
(R) 164.1 (R) 170.6 (R) 168.8 166.1

Percent change from previous month

  (R) 1.7% (R) 4.0% (R) -1.1% (R) -1.6%

Export index

Jump to page with historical data
(R) 93.1 93.8 (R) 93.3 94.6

Percent change from previous month

  (R) -1.5% (R) 0.8% (R) -0.5% (R) 1.4%

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
4th quarter
2011
1st quarter
2012
2nd quarter
2012
3rd quarter
2012

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

Jump to page with historical data
33,161 (P) 33,480 (P) 33,846 (P) 34,173

Local government

Jump to page with historical data
10 (P) 10 (P) 10 (P) 10

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series Back
data
2007 2008 2009 2010

Labor productivity index, output per hour

Jump to page with historical data
71.178 69.046 78.813 77.202

Percent change from previous year

Jump to page with historical data
-7.6 -3.0 14.1 -2.0

Labor index, total labor hours

Jump to page with historical data
136.423 141.934 124.860 130.594

Percent change from previous year

Jump to page with historical data
8.6 4.0 -12.0 4.6

Output index

Jump to page with historical data
97.103 97.999 98.406 100.822

Percent change from previous year

Jump to page with historical data
0.3 0.9 0.4 2.5

Unit labor costs index

Jump to page with historical data
188.781 212.117 187.725 198.655

Percent change from previous year

Jump to page with historical data
13.8 12.4 -11.5 5.8

(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: May 21, 2013