US coal mining jobs near 11-year low

OREANDA-NEWS. April 28, 2015. The number of people employed as coal miners in the US fell to the lowest level in nearly 11 years in March, as mine operators move on permanent and temporary mine closures.

Coal mining employment stood at 70,800 last month on a seasonally adjusted basis, the lowest since May 2004, according to the US Labor Department. Employment for the first quarter as a whole averaged 71,133, also the lowest quarterly average in nearly 11 years.

The department's coal mining employment figures have declined on a month-over-month basis since October. And employment could decline further as more mines go off line or operators scale back work hours.

Arch Coal and Peabody Energy said last week that they expect more US coal mines to be idled this year. Arch has cut the production target at its West Elk mine in Colorado and is refining its production targets at other US mines. It projected that the industry's Central Appalachian production would fall below 100mn short tons (90.7mn metric tonnes) this year, compared with 117mn st in 2014.

Market conditions "are probably going to get a little tougher," Arch chief executive John Eaves said on 21 April. "If you think about not only natural gas, but what you are seeing in the international markets with API pricing, metallurgical (coal) pricing, we think that the acceleration of cutbacks particularly in Appalachia will continue as we move through the balance of 2015."

The Labor Department will report preliminary statistics for April on 8 May. It also will revise March data.

Alliance Resource Partners, Alpha Natural Resources, Consol and Cloud Peak Energy are among coal producers that may provide operational updates when they discus first quarter earnings this week.

Coal-state legislators have introduced bills trying to stem the drop in coal mining jobs. But so far none have made it into law.

Hours worked by employees remaining at the mines are holding steady, which suggests worker productivity is holding up even as employment and production slip. The Labor Department calculated the average weekly hours of coal mining employees was at 45.7 in February, holding within the range of the previous four months. It has not yet released March hourly data for coal mining.

The Energy Information Administration expects coal production to fall to 926mn st this year from 996.7mn st in 2014.

The department also reported a drop in employment for mining support activities, which includes other mining industries such as oil and gas, to 427,700 people on a seasonally adjusted basis in March from 437,800 in February. That was the lowest level since March 2014. That National Mining Association has estimated that each coal job supports at least four other jobs.

US employment firm Challenger Gray & Christmas estimated that a total of 37,811 job cuts have been announced in the energy industry in the first quarter of this year. This includes cuts in the oil and gas industries as well as mining.