A new government report shows the strength of the energy sector when it comes to employment in the U.S. Most areas showed significant increases in the number of workers in 2018 according to the report from Energy Futures Initiative and the National Association of State Energy Officials.
The report showed that the traditional energy and energy efficiency sectors “continued to outperform the economy as a whole.” But the Fuels sector was strongest of all adding 52,000 jobs during the year.
Natural gas employment in the electric sector increased by more than 5,200 jobs, outstripping the number for wind energy firms in 2018. But the coal-fired generation sector shed nearly 6,600 jobs.
Overall, the Traditional Energy and Energy Efficiency sectors last year employed nearly 6.7 million Americans or 4.6 percent of a workforce of approximately 147 million. It was an increase of 2.3 percent from 2017 as 151,700 net new jobs were added.
The Fuels sector employed 1,127,600, an increase of 52,000 or 4.8 percent in 2018.
• Petroleum fuels added the most jobs of any traditional energy sector,
with 33,500 new positions, an increase of 5.9 percent.
• Natural gas extraction increased employment by 6.8 percent, adding
17,000 jobs.
• Coal mining and fuels production gained 650 jobs or 0.9 percent.
• Woody biomass jumped 5.5 percent, adding more than 1,700 jobs.
The Electric Power Generation sector employed 875,600 and declined by just under one percent, losing almost 8,300 jobs. Job losses in solar, nuclear and coal generation were partially offset by gains in natural gas, wind, and CHP.
Click here to read entire 177-page report.
