Wage and Employment Patterns in the Mining Sector By Dina Itkin he mining sector plays an important role in different table 1 and include rotary drill operators, who have the high- areas of today’s U.S. labor market, as it did historical- est laborer average hourly wage, $19.34; continuous mining Tly during the Nation’s development. As of May 2005, machine operators, who rip materials from the mine face the mining sector employed a total of 539,960 people nation- and load it onto conveyors or into shuttle cars; mining roof wide. The average hourly wage for all occupations, ranging bolters, who install roof support bolts in underground mines; from civil engineers to food preparation workers, is $21.73, explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters, but varies by occupation. This average places the mining sec- who detonate explosives to demolish structures or to displace tor in the top third of all 20 sectors of the economy. Occupa- earth; mine cutting and channeling machine operators, who tional wages within the mining sector vary by location and cut or channel along the faces or seams of mines or quar- industry. Wages for the highest-paying occupations in mining ries to facilitate the blasting of materials from the mines; all are higher than average, while wages for the lowest-paying other mining machine operators; earth drillers, except those occupations in mining are lower than average. Wages for oc- drilling for oil or gas; all other extraction workers; oil and cupations such as mining laborers are generally higher than gas derrick operators, who rig derrick equipment and operate wages of laborers with similar skill levels who work in other pumps to circulate mud through drill holes; oil, gas, and min- industries. ing service unit operators; helpers of extraction workers, who help extraction craft workers by performing duties of lesser Occupations in the mining sector skill; quarry rock splitters; oil and gas roustabouts; shuttle The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey re- car operators, who operate shuttle cars in underground mines ports data for 245 occupations in the mining sector, ranging to transport materials from working faces to mine cars or a from management and legal occupations to production and conveyor; and loading machine operators in underground transportation occupations. Among the most important occu- mining, who load coal, ore, or rock into cars or onto convey- pations in the sector are mining laborers. Fifteen occupations ors. The weighted mean wage for these 15 mining laborer in particular perform the labor-intensive tasks that are vital occupations is $16.21. to the structure of the mining industry and account for one- Wages for mining laborers vary by industry within the quarter of mining employment. One of them, roustabouts— mining sector, which consists of three subsectors: oil and gas found mainly in the oil and gas extraction industry—is the extraction (NAICS industry code 211000), mining, except largest occupation in the mining sector. These workers, who oil and gas (NAICS code 212000), and support activities for assemble or repair oil field equipment, number 29,170 in mining (NAICS code 213000). Of these three subsectors, the the mining sector and slightly more than 4,000 in all other largest is mining, except oil and gas, employing 39 percent industries. The 15 mining laborer occupations consist of 13 of the mining sectors’ workers. This subsector comprises the occupations employing extraction workers and two occupa- coal mining, metal ore mining, and nonmetallic mineral min- tions employing transportation and material moving work- ing and quarrying industries. The oil and gas extraction sub- ers. Mining laborers must be able to perform physical labor sector has the highest mean hourly wage: $30.34. Average in dangerous conditions and are usually not required to pos- wages in mining, except oil and gas, and in support activi- sess a high school diploma. Most skills are learned on the ties for mining are $19.29 and $19.13, respectively. Table 1 job and are supplemented by a requisite 40 hours of formal breaks down mining laborer wages by subsector. safety training.1 The mining laborer occupations are listed in 1 “Mining,” Career Guide to Industries (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Dina Itkin is an economist in the Division of Occupational Employment Sta- 2006–07); on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs004.htm#training. tistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics (Visited on September 5, 2006.) 23 Table 1. Average hourly wages in mining subsectors “--” indicates no employment or data not available. Occupation Average hourly wage Mining sector Oil and gas Coal Metal ore Nonmetal Support Roustabouts, oil and gas ...................................... $12.83 $14.03 — — — $12.63 Helpers, extraction workers .................................. 14.21 12.31 16.93 15.24 12.33 13.46 Service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining.......... 16.53 18.53 — — — 16.28 Rotary drill operators, oil and gas ......................... 19.34 20.89 — — — 19.15 Derrick operators, oil and gas............................... 17.17 17.82 — — — 17.10 Continuous mining machine operators ................. 18.89 — 19.03 21.73 16.52 16.02 Extraction workers, all other ................................. 17.62 20.47 15.21 20.67 15.88 17.89 Mine cutting and channeling machine operators .. 18.31 — 19.80 20.90 16.03 15.45 Earth drillers, except oil and gas .......................... 17.64 — 17.26 21.44 16.25 17.49 Roof bolters, mining.............................................. 18.85 — 18.69 23.70 22.79 18.49 Shuttle car operators ............................................ 18.58 — 18.45 — 23.70 — Rock splitters, quarry ............................................ 13.59 — 16.29 — 13.50 — Mining machine operators, all other ..................... 18.10 — 20.03 20.03 16.76 12.80 Loading machine operators in underground mining ................................................................. 17.44 — 17.65 — 16.88 — Explosives workers, ordnance handling workers, and blasters ........................................................ 18.70 — 19.77 21.95 16.38 17.89 Comparison of wages in mining sector with wages agers. The higher wages could represent a higher demand for across all industries these workers, as is the case with lawyers; an incentive to Although mining laborers are employed primarily by the min- attract higher quality professional workers; or the sharing of ing industries, many other important mining occupations are relatively high mining industry profits.2 found across numerous industries. Overall, more than half of Measuring the absolute wage differences among the di- all occupations in mining have average wages that exceed verse set of mining occupations, however, does not take into their national cross-industry averages. Separately examining account differences in earning levels. For a manager or en- the highest- and lowest-paid mining occupations produces gineer earning a high annual salary, a few cents or dollars interesting results. deviating from the cross-industry hourly average might not Not surprisingly, the top-paying occupations in the indus- seem substantial. On the other hand, for occupations earning try are not labor intensive, but professional: lawyers, several close to the minimum wage, a difference of a few cents or types of managers, physicists, engineers, and geoscientists, $1.00 per hour might be important. Therefore, a better mea- among others. As an example, lawyers in mining establish- sure of the wage difference is the percentage difference, or ments are among the highest-paid workers in mining occu- premium, between the mining industry wage and the cross- pations and earn more than the average in other industries. industry average. The occupations with the highest percent In the mining sector, they make an average of $134,630 wage premiums are hazardous materials removal workers annually (among the highest they are paid by any indus- (with an 80% wage premium); sales workers; vehicle and try), whereas the cross-industrial average annual salary for equipment cleaners; stock clerks and order fillers; real estate lawyers is $110,520. The high wages paid by mining firms sales agents; managers of property, real estate, and commu- might result from a greater demand for lawyers, as reflected nity associations; and geoscientists. in the occupation’s employment levels. Mining has one of At the other end of the spectrum, many of the lowest-paid the five highest employment concentrations of lawyers, be- mining occupations are paid lower mean wages than their hind the professional services, public administration, and two national cross-industry counterparts. Among the lowest-pay- business industries, as shown in table 2. In comparison with ing mining occupations—those earning under $10 hourly, on other laborer-intensive industries, mining employs the great- average—are office machine workers; nursing aides; farm est proportion of lawyers. Almost 0.2 percent of the mining workers and laborers of crops or nurseries; tool grinders and industry is composed of lawyers, while manufacturing em- filers; landscaping and groundskeeping workers; recreational ploys only 0.03 percent, transportation and warehousing 0.02 percent, construction 0.01 percent, and agriculture less than 0.01 percent. 2 Quarterly Financial Report for Manufacturing, Mining, and Trade Besides lawyers, many mining occupations with the high- Corporations: 2006, “Table D. Annual Rates of Profit on Stockholders’ est mean wages