June 24, 2019
AUSTIN – Data from the Texas Workforce Commission shows job growth in the upstream oil and natural gas sector in April and May 2019 after a time of fluctuation in employment figures since the fall of 2018. The upstream sector gained 1,900 and 1,000 jobs in April and May, respectively.
“The Texas oil and natural gas industry continues to employ hundreds of thousands of Texans in high-skilled, high-paying, desirable jobs that are essential to our economic strength and energy security,” said Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association. “While the cyclical nature of the industry is typical, oil and natural gas remain the economic backbone of Texas and the driving force behind our state’s remarkable successes.”
At 238,900 jobs, May upstream oil and natural gas jobs remained well above the low point of September 2016, which was 192,400 jobs. Since the low point, the job count in the upstream sector has grown by 46,500 jobs, which pay among the highest wages in Texas.
Oil and natural gas extraction is upstream activity, meaning that it excludes other sectors in the industry such as refining, petrochemicals, fuels wholesaling, oilfield equipment manufacturing, pipelines, and gas utilities. The employment shown also includes “Support Activities for Mining,” which is mostly oil and natural gas-related but includes some small amount of other types of mining.
Of the 116,500 jobs lost from the peak of December of 2014 to the low point in September of 2016, Texas has recovered 40 percent of the jobs.
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