Employment in America’s energy technology and services sector increased by an estimated 8,002 jobs in June, a fourth consecutive month of growth, according to preliminary data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and analysis by the Energy Workforce & Technology Council.
The 1.3% growth comes after the sector added nearly 24,000 positions over the past 3 months after hitting a pandemic low of 591,413 jobs in February, according to BLS data. Gains over the past 4 months bring the sector to a net increase of an estimated 9,043 jobs in 2021.
Texas far outpaced other energy-centric states in job growth. The state added an estimated 4,400 jobs over the 30-day period—more that the next 10 states combined, including Louisiana (745), Oklahoma (679), Colorado (362), New Mexico (334), California (327), and Pennsylvania (323)—over the same period.
The monthly Energy Technology & Services Employment Report, compiled and published by the Council, estimated a peak of nearly 102,000 pandemic-related job losses. Since then, the sector has restored around 18,600 positions, bringing total pandemic employment cuts to 83,000 jobs and more than $9.4 billion in annualized lost wages.
Using BLS data, the Council, in consultation with researchers from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston, found that reductions were heaviest in April 2020, when the sector shed 57,294 jobs—the largest 1-month total since at least 2013.
Sector employment has grown slowly in 2021 as companies have focused on reducing debt, repaying investors, and investing in research and development instead of boosting production. Employment in the sector is down 11.8% since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.
Employment is estimated by analyzing data published by the BLS and covers the activities of oil and gas extraction, construction, and manufacturing. Total employment is estimated using the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, published by BLS, and jobs data reported by BLS monthly.
