New Texas Workforce Commission data shows another month of job growth for Texas oil and natural gas employment, with 2,400 upstream sector jobs added in November.
For the past six months in a row, employment gains have exceeded 2,000 jobs every month with the average monthly gain being 2,633, according to a news release from the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA).
At 185,800 upstream jobs, November 2021 jobs are up by 24,800, or 15.4%, from November of 2020. Since the low point in September of 2020, growth months have outnumbered decline months 12-to-2, with industry adding 28,300 Texas upstream jobs.
“The Texas economy continues to rebound and the upstream sector’s addition of two thousand-plus jobs every month for the past six months is a prime example of how critical this industry is to the state’s recovery,” said Todd Staples, president of TXOGA. “These jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas and the activity of this industry supports communities across the state, whether you live in the oil patch or not. These positive job numbers are good news for all Texans and Americans.”
The upstream sector involves oil and natural gas extraction and excludes other industry sectors such as refining, petrochemicals, fuels wholesaling, oilfield equipment manufacturing, pipelines, and gas utilities, which support hundreds of thousands of additional jobs in Texas. The employment shown also includes “Support Activities for Mining,” which is mostly oil and gas-related but also includes some small amount of other types of mining.
