The number of employees in the oil and gas extraction industry hit a post pandemic September low, data on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website showed.
According to preliminary figures included in the BLS data page, the number of employees in the sector stood at 114,100 last month. That was the lowest September figure since 2021, when it came in at 111,400, and the second lowest September figure in the data set, which spanned from January 2026 to September 2026, the data page outlined.
The number of employees in the oil and gas extraction industry came in at 160,800 in September 2026, 143,600 in September 2017, 141,400 in September 2018, 144,000 in September 2019, 126,800 in September 2020, 115,300 in September 2022, 119,600 in September 2023, 120,900 in September 2024, and 115,900 in September 2025, the data page revealed.
September’s preliminary figure of 114,100 was also the lowest figure so far this year, according to the data page, which outlined that the number of employees in the oil and gas extraction industry came in at 114,700 in August, 114,600 in July, 115,100 in June, 115,400 in May, 115,200 in April, 115,900 in March, 116,200 in February, and 115,500 in January. August’s figure is still preliminary, the data page highlighted.
Including the 2026 figure, the number of employees in the oil and gas extraction industry has decreased from August to September in five out of the last 11 years. Looking at September to October figures, the number of employees in this sector has decreased in seven of the last 10 years.
The number of employees in the oil and gas extraction industry came in at 158,600 in October 2016, 142,200 in October 2017, 141,100 in October 2018, 143,400 in October 2019, 127,000 in October 2020, 111,300 in October 2021, 115,900 in October 2022, 120,100 in October 2023, 120,500 in October 2024, and 115,700 in October 2025, the BLS data showed.
According to the latest BLS data, the number of employees in the oil and gas extraction industry decreased from July to August seven of the last 11 years. One of the only four yearly increases occurred in 2026, the data highlighted.
The number of employees in the oil and gas extraction industry stood at 166,800 in July 2016, 142,800 in July 2017, 143,700 in July 2018, 144,000 in July 2019, 127,300 in July 2020, 111,300 in July 2021, 122,600 in July 2022, 118,100 in July 2023, 121,700 in July 2024, 117,200 in July 2025, and 114,600 in July 2026, the BLS data revealed.
According to the BLS data page, the highest figure in the data set was seen in January 2016, at 187,300 and the lowest figure, 110,900, was seen in November 2021 and January 2022.
The BLS data is taken from the national Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey, the data page highlighted. The CES program produces detailed industry estimates of nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings of workers on payrolls, the BLS site states, adding that CES National Estimates produces data for the nation and CES State and Metro Area produces estimates for all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and about 450 metropolitan areas and divisions.
Each month, CES surveys approximately 119,000 businesses and government agencies, representing approximately 622,000 individual worksites, the BLS site notes.
The oil and gas extraction subsector is part of the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector, the BLS site states. The site highlights that, according to the North American Industry Classification System, “industries in the Oil and Gas Extraction subsector operate and/or develop oil and gas field properties”.
“Such activities may include exploration for crude petroleum and natural gas; drilling, completing, and equipping wells; operating separators, emulsion breakers, desilting equipment, and field gathering lines for crude petroleum and natural gas; and all other activities in the preparation of oil and gas up to the point of shipment from the producing property,” the site adds.
“This subsector includes the production of crude petroleum, the mining and extraction of oil from oil shale and oil sands, and the production of natural gas, sulfur recovery from natural gas, and recovery of hydrocarbon liquids,” it continues.
The BLS describes itself on its site as an agency of the United States Department of Labor.
“It is the principal fact-finding agency in the broad field of labor economics and statistics and serves as part of the U.S. Federal Statistical System,” the site notes.
“BLS collects, calculates, analyzes, and publishes data essential to the public, employers, researchers, and government organizations,” it adds.
An overview page hosted on the World Health Organization’s website notes that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was a global outbreak of coronavirus – “an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)”.
“Cases of novel coronavirus (nCoV) were first detected in China in December 2019, with the virus spreading rapidly to other countries across the world,” the statement highlighted.
“This led WHO to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020 and to characterize the outbreak as a pandemic on 11 March 2020,” it added.
“On 5 May 2023, more than three years into the pandemic, the WHO Emergency Committee on COVID-19 recommended to the Director-General, who accepted the recommendation, that given the disease was by now well established and ongoing, it no longer fit the definition of a PHEIC,” it continued.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, over two million people in the European Region have died from the disease, the statement posted on the WHO’s website revealed.
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