U.S. Shed 9,000 Mining, Energy Jobs in October, 17,000 Since May

Buried in Friday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report on the country’s unemployment situation was this disheartening fact: 9,000 employees of the mining and resource extraction sector lost their jobs in October. That brings total job losses in that sector to 17,000 since May, according to BLS. “Mining lost 9,000 jobs in October, with most of the decline occurring in support activities for mining,” BLS reported Friday morning. “Since May of this year, employment in mining has decreased by 17,000.” Energy has become a hot-button issue of late as the country debates major regulations on industries that fall under BLS’s “mining” rubric and taxpayer incentives for other energy sectors. While the president often touts his policies as friendly to the conventional fuel industry, BLS’s numbers suggest the sector is hitting a financial rough patch...more