It’s no secret that U.S. oil and natural gas development has led to incredible job creation all across the country. As EID recently highlighted, the Marcellus Shale alone has created over 15,000 direct jobs in Pennsylvania, representing nearly a 260 percent increase in employment since 2007. The Leeds School of Business in Colorado reports that the industry supports 94,000 jobs in the state. In Texas, that number is 444,000, and the trend continues in North Dakota, where the state touts a 2.8 percent unemployment rate.
But what about all the work that occurs away from the wellsite, but which makes oil and gas production possible? The fact is that indirect jobs created by shale development are equally impressive. According to an IHS CERA study:
“Employment related to unconventional oil and gas production in these supply chain industries totaled 524,000 jobs in 2012 and is expected to grow 45 percent to 757,000 jobs in 2025” (emphasis added).
“Supply chain industries will contribute, ‘more than $16 billion in government revenues in 2015 (up from $13 billion in 2012) and rise to about $23 billion in 2025.’”
These supply chain jobs are being created in industries such as construction, steel manufacturing and trucking, giving local communities a much-needed boost. For instance, the school of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently published a report that found:
“Construction and maintenance spending associated with Marcellus Shale development reached $5 billion in 2013 – growing by 61 percent from 2012.”
Check out EID’s newest video — The Shale Supply Chain — and learn more about how shale development is boosting employment across the U.S. economy.