Changes Running in Mine Employment

Employment in mining is projected to decrease. The growing U.S. and world economies will continue to demand larger quantities of the raw materials produced by mining, but the increased output will be able to be met by new technologies and new extraction techniques that increase productivity and require fewer workers. Wage and salary employment in mining is expected to decline by 14 percent through the year 2018, compared with 11 percent growth projected for the entire economy. Mining production is tied closely with prices and demand for the raw materials produced, and as prices for oil, gas, and metals have risen rapidly in recent years, production and employment in the industry have also grown. In the short term, employment may fluctuate due to changes in prices, but over the course of the projections period, technological advances will increase productivity and cause employment declines in the mining industry as a whole.

Petroleum and natural gas exploration and development in the United States depends upon prices for these resources and the size of accessible reserves. Stable and favorable prices are needed to allow companies enough revenue to expand exploration and production projects. Rising worldwide demand for oil and gas-particularly from developing countries such as India and China-is likely to cause prices to remain elevated and generate the needed incentive for oil and gas producers to continue exploring and developing oil and gas reserves. U.S. reserves of oil and gas should remain adequate to support continued production through 2018. However, environmental concerns, accompanied by strict regulation and limited access to protected Federal lands, also continue to have a major impact on this industry. Restrictions on drilling in environmentally sensitive areas and other environmental constraints should continue to limit exploration and development, both onshore and offshore.

In addition to resource availability, new production technologies also will impact employment in the industry. New drilling and extraction techniques allow for more efficient production from a reduced number of drill sites. As a result, employment in oil and gas extraction is expected to decline by 16 percent through 2018. However, changes in policy could expand exploration and drilling for oil and natural gas in currently protected areas, potentially boosting employment. Demand for coal will increase as coal remains the primary fuel source for electricity generation. Although environmental concerns exist regarding coal power-burning coal releases pollutants and carbon dioxide-few alternatives exist on a scale large enough to meet the fuel demand of utilities. Natural gas burns cleaner than coal, but coal power plants manufacturing and professional machines equipped with scrubbers reduce this disadvantage, and natural gas prices have been more volatile than coal prices in recent years. Future increased use of nuclear power or renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power, could reduce demand for coal, but over the projection period neither is expected to increase rapidly enough to contribute significantly to U.S. energy supplies.