Wages for US oil workers slipped for the first time in six months as explorers tighten their spending amid a drop in crude prices.
(Bloomberg) — Wages for US oil workers slipped for the first time in six months as explorers tighten their spending amid a drop in crude prices.
Average hourly earnings in oil and gas extraction for nonsupervisory workers fell 1.1% in January from the previous month to $42.55, according to a Labor Department report released Friday. Compared with a year ago, pay is still up 14%.
As they unveiled their fourth-quarter earnings results in recent weeks, US shale producers reiterated their commitment to prioritizing dividends and buybacks over rig growth. An almost 40% slump in domestic oil prices since mid-summer has only reinforced those convictions. North American spending in the industry this year is expected to grow at roughly half the pace of last year’s expansion.
The jobless rate in oil and natural gas rose to 3% in February from 0.3% in the previous month on an unadjusted basis, government figures show. That compares with an unemployment rate of 5% a year earlier. The overall number of workers employed in the industry totaled 118,000 in February, down 4% from last year’s peak.
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