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Mining (except Oil and Gas): NAICS 212

About the Mining (except Oil and Gas) subsector

The mining (except oil and gas) subsector is part of the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector.

Industries in the Mining (except Oil and Gas) subsector primarily engage in mining, mine site development, and beneficiating (i.e., preparing) metallic minerals and nonmetallic minerals, including coal. The term "mining" is used in the broad sense to include ore extraction, quarrying, and beneficiating (e.g., crushing, screening, washing, sizing, concentrating, and flotation), customarily done at the mine site.

North American Industry Classification System

The mining (except oil and gas) subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Coal Mining: NAICS 2121
  • Metal Ore Mining: NAICS 2122
  • Nonmetallic Mineral Mining and Quarrying: NAICS 2123

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in mining (except oil and gas). These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment

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

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

187.1 188.5 (p)189.2 (p)189.4

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees

145.3 144.5 (p)141.9  

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2022

Continuous mining machine operators

12,470

Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators

16,190

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

8,070

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

17,240

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

13,650

(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 (except oil and gas).

(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 are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in mining (except oil and gas).

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

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

Average hourly earnings

$36.08 $36.87 $36.08 (p)$37.94

Average weekly hours

44.9 44.3 44.7 (p)44.0

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

$34.17 $34.98 $34.75 (p)$36.75

Average weekly hours

46.2 45.7 44.9 (p)44.2

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2022
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Continuous mining machine operators

28.19 27.65 58,640 57,510

Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators

23.16 24.72 48,170 51,420

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

40.64 41.54 84,540 86,410

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

24.13 25.91 50,180 53,890

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

23.03 24.23 47,910 50,390

(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 (except oil and gas). 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

23 32 32 29

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

2.1

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

1.4

Cases involving days away from work

1.0

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.4

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 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)327.598 (p)328.025 (p)331.025 (p)330.855

Percent change from previous month

  (p)1.8% (p)0.1% (p)0.9% (p)-0.1%

Export index

136.7 (r)134.0 (r)137.0 134.9

Percent change from previous month

  2.9% (r)-2.0% (r)2.2% (r)-1.5%

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 (except oil and gas). 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

7,409 (p)7,235 (p)7,274 (p)7,354

Local government

4 (p)4 (p)4 (p)4

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

101.351 103.825 109.003 104.949

Percent change from previous year

-7.5 2.4 5.0 -3.7

Labor index, total labor hours

93.436 80.745 80.343 84.986

Percent change from previous year

4.4 -13.6 -0.5 5.8

Output index

94.699 83.834 87.576 89.192

Percent change from previous year

-3.5 -11.5 4.5 1.8

Unit labor costs index

104.397 107.410 109.084 117.963

Percent change from previous year

7.1 2.9 1.6 8.1

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

 

Data extracted on: March 22, 2024