2015 Annus Horribilis ~January 2016~
2015 is being billed as the worst year since 1986 for the United States mining industry. While payroll numbers showed an increase of 292,000 jobs in December, the industry actually suffered the 12th consecutive month of employment decline. 8,000 jobs overall were lost in December which amounted to about 131,000 jobs lost total for the year. For the most part, the jobs in the industry that are being lost are not those of actual miners but instead of support staff that help to oversee mining. This job loss also resulted in a wage drop of about 1.45 for December compared to the flat growth in hourly earnings for the labor market. These jobs are being eliminated at an alarming rate and show that the mining industry may be in more trouble than you could imagine. Though there are no projections as of yet for 2016, we can only hope that the job market will grow and that the jobs that have been eliminated, might start to come back and that potential for job growth might exist as well. 2015 saw the third largest job loss in one year in the mining industry according to data that went all the way back to 1939. In December of 2015 there were only 782,000 people employed in the mining sector, 475,000 less than at the height of the industry in 1981. Overall, though this loss is great, it may not be the end of the line for those that are in this career.