Since last quarter Mining employment dropped 1.3% losing 179 employees. Three sectors declined and only Oil & Gas Extraction (13) added employees. Coal Mining (12) reported the largest quarterly decrease down by 118 employees. Three mines cutback staff added through the summer and one mine cutback operations causing a layoff. Mining & Quarry Nonmetal (14) lost 109 employees. Seasonal cutbacks in sand and gravel production and dimension stone generated most of the loss. One company completed a large job and several other companies reported small employment declines in Crushed & Broken Stone (142). Metal Mining (10) dropped by 62 employees. Corporate office cutbacks in Gold & Silver Ores (104) and several small declines in other companies caused a loss of 72 employees. Sector losses were offset by gains in Misc Metal Ores which includes uranium mining. Oil & Gas Field Service was solely responsible for the addition of 110 employees to the Oil & Gas Extraction sector.
ANNUAL
Mining reported its largest annual employment gain since 1991. Employment is up by 666 employees an increase of 5% over fourth quarter a year ago. The leading sector increase occurred in Oil & Gas Extraction (13) which added 401 employees. Establishments providing oil & gas field services for others generated the sector gain. Corporate layoffs in oil and gas operating properties incurred some losses over the year. Mining & Quarry Nonmetal (14) up 169 employees had the second largest sector increase. Gains occurred in the operation of sand and gravel pits due to the heavy demand for cement for new home construction and road paving. Metal Mining (10) added 99 employees. Corporate layoffs and a mine closure in late 1996 caused employment to decline in Gold & Silver Ores, however, increased employment for mining of uranium and ferroalloy ores offset losses. The temporary and one quarter shut down of a mine in Lead & Zinc Ores (103) caused this subsector to reflect an increase over a year ago.
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