Texas has both highs and lows for oil and gas economies for 2014.
Related:Low Oil Prices and the Texas Economy
Headlight Data released a report based on 2014 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that shares a peek into the labor market just before it headed into the oil price crash. Job creation in the Oil, Gas & Mining sector has been strong in the U.S. growing 31% over the past five years and adding 200,000 new jobs to the national economy. The sector currently employs 842,000 people in the US.
The report shows that, out of more than 1,100 counties across the U.S., Texas held top spots for both job creation and job losses. In 2014, there were 3,200 jobs created in Midland County, TX and 1,100 jobs lost in Harris County. Overall, Texas had five of the top 10 spots: Midland County, Bexar County, Frio County, Ector County, and Tarrant County.
The Eagle Ford’s Frio County came in at the fifth spot and boasts an impressive growth of 1,100 new oil and gas jobs with a small population of 18,500 people.
“The “largest oil, gas & mining job losses occurred across many parts of the US, for varying reasons. Large job losses in Harris County-TX (Houston), Collin County-TX (north Dallas), and Pinal County-AZ (Phoenix) are due to the loss of energy headquarters jobs, possibly to other parts of the metro. Elko County-NV’s job losses are in gold mining, and Charleston-WV’s job losses are in coal mining.”
Top 10 Counties: Most oil, gas and mining jobs created in 2014:
- Midland County (Midland, Texas): 3,169
- Weld County (Greely, Colo.): 2,367
- Williams County (Williston, N.D.): 1,807
- Bexar County (San Antonio): 1,416
- Frio County (Pearsall): 1,067
- Ector County (Odessa): 1,064
- Tarrant County (Fort Worth): 908
- Denver County (Denver): 893
- Lea County (Hobbs, N.M.): 785
Bottom 10 Counties: Most oil, gas and mining jobs lost in 2014:
- Harris County (Houston): -1,115
- Elko County (Elko, Nev.): -744
- Collin County (McKinney, Texas): -584
- Boone County (Charleston, W.V.): -551
- Pinal County (Phoenix, Ariz.) -535
- St. Martin Parish (Lafayette, La.): -459
- Salt Lake County (Salt Lake City): -451
- Mingo County (Williamson, W.Va.): -444
- Contra Costa County (San Francisco): -439
- Hopkins County (Madisonville, Ky.): -376