Indeed: Wyoming, North Dakota lead oil-job recovery

Interest in US oil jobs has revived in Wyoming and North Dakota more strongly than in Texas, according a researcher at the job board Indeed.

Overall, reports Daniel Culbertson, Indeed job postings show “some signs of new life in the oil-labor market.”

In a Dec. 15 blog post, Culbertson compares job interest in five oil-producing states on the basis of percent changes in the oil-job search share of total jobs searches from their lowest points to latest data available.

Wyoming’s share has gained 57% and North Dakota’s, 44%. The Texas share has increased by 16%. Gains in Oklahoma and Alaska both were 31%.

Texas also lags behind the other states in recent recoveries, measured as percent change in the oil-job posting share of total job posting from the lowest point to latest available.

By that metric the indicated recoveries are Wyoming 211%, Alaska 144%, Oklahoma 140%, North Dakota 86%, and Texas 6%.

The relative oil-employment slumps were less varied among these states in the Indeed analysis.

Declines in oil-job postings’ share of total job postings, between when oil prices peaked in 2014 and their lowest job-postings points, were Alaska 86%, Oklahoma 84%, North Dakota 83%, Wyoming 80%, and Texas 79%.

Indeed data show oil employment, as reflected in oil-job postings per 10,000 total job postings, already was faltering when oil prices began to decline in mid-2014, Culbertson says.

The oil-posting share plunged until early in 2016 and since then has “notched small but significant growth, climbing by 52.1%,” he notes (see chart).