The Energy Workforce and Technology Council said jobs in the US oilfield services sector remained relatively flat, losing 3,741 jobs during January 2024, even as overall hiring in the country grew.
The Houston-based industry trade group said in its monthly Energy Technology & Services Employment briefing on 14 February that the sector's job availability, as compared with December, decreased by 0.6%, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics after adjustments to December numbers and analysis by the council.
“As the jobs remain relatively flat, we are hopeful that, as energy demand continues to grow, we will see the jobs holding steady and trending towards long-term growth. We will continue to support policies that enable this growth,” said Energy Workforce President Molly Determan.
In a state-by-state analysis, Energy Workforce reported the following job numbers:
| Texas | 314,402 |
| Louisiana | 53,874 |
| Oklahoma | 49,099 |
| Colorado | 26,195 |
| New Mexico | 24,130 |
| California | 23,614 |
| Pennsylvania | 23,356 |
| North Dakota | 20,065 |
| Wyoming | 14,968 |
| Ohio | 10,710 |
| Arkansas | 10,000 |
| West Virginia | 9,871 |
Nationally, the US unemployment rate for January remained at 3.7%. It is the 24th consecutive month that the nation’s jobless rate has been under 4%, according to The New York Times.
Overall, the national labor market added 353,000 jobs in January, far more than the 255,000 expected by the US Department of Labor. However, the US Chamber of Commerce reported on 13 February that workforce participation remains below pre-pandemic levels, finding that 1.7 million Americans are missing from the workforce compared with February 2020.
"We have a lot of jobs but not enough workers to fill them. If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have nearly 3 million open jobs," said Stephanie Ferguson, director of global employment policy and special initiatives for the US Chamber of Commerce. "The latest data shows that we have 9.5 million job openings in the US but only 6.5 million unemployed workers."
