Marcellus Hiring Spree Continues

The Center for Workforce Information and Analysis (the research arm of the Department of Labor and Industry) released their April Marcellus Shale Fast Facts, demonstrating tremendous growth in Marcellus Shale jobs.

The natural gas industry has dramatically reduced unemployment in the northern tier, with an increase in mining and logging jobs of 1,300 percent since 2008. And companies are still hiring. In just the first quarter of 2011, core and related natural gas industries hired 9,000 people. There was no ribbon-cutting ceremony, as these 9,000 jobs weren’t funded by any corporate welfare program.

Overall, Marcellus core and ancillary employment is up 26.3 percent from last year while overall state employment is up only 1.4 percent. Taking a more long-term view, from 2008 Q1 to 2010 Q3, employment in core industries increased by nearly 94 percent, while total jobs in Pennsylvania dropped 2 percent.

Pennsylvanians aren’t just getting jobs, they are getting high paying jobs, well above the state average. For the last four quarters, the average wage in all jobs was $45,491, but the average wage for those in the natural gas industry was $69,995.

Contrary to some naysayers, the Marcellus Shale industry isn’t a temporary boom but a long-term economic renissance. The industry predicts it will take at least a generation to recover all the gas in the world’s second-largest gas field.