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OIL AND GAS
Texas oil economy may be shrinking
by Daniel J. Graeber
Houston (UPI) Nov 13, 2015


Energy jobs in Norway down by half
Oslo, Norway (UPI) Nov 13, 2015 - Though trade levels increased during the third quarter, the number of jobs opened in the Norwegian oil and gas sector continues to decline, national data show.

Economic growth has been slow for most of the year for Norway, with gross domestic product increasing by slightly less than 1 percent for the past four quarters combined.

Statistics Norway said the trade surplus for September was $1.9 billion, the second lowest level since March 2003.

In a snapshot of labor figures, the data-mining body oil and gas said employment prospects were dwindling.

"The number of job vacancies in the production of oil and gas decreased by half from the third quarter of 2014 to the third quarter of 2015," the agency said.

By comparison, manufacturing employment was down 39 percent from last year, though overall trade was up 25 percent year-on-year. Across the board, there were 51,800 job openings in the Norwegian economy during the third quarter, a 5.3 percent decline from last year.

Statistics Norway said there's been a decrease in the number of jobs available in the oil and gas sector in every quarter since fourth quarter 2012.

The government's statistics office attributed some of the decline in employment to an aging workforce, suggesting the sector is not attracting younger workers. In 2013, more than 70 percent of the oil and gas workforce was below 50 years of age, a figure that dropped nearly 2 percent the following year.

Low crude oil prices are damaging economies like Norway's that depend heavily on oil and natural gas for revenue. Norge Bank, the country's central bank, said in September that a weakened value of its currency, the krone, could make exports more attractive, though the overall economy is expected to falter and unemployment is projected to rise.

While federal data show Michigan shedding the most jobs, a Texas energy group said the state may be taking the brunt of the economic impact of low oil prices.

For the week ending Oct. 31, the U.S. Labor Department said Michigan had the most initial filings for unemployment with 3,942, with losses coming from the state's manufacturing sector. Texas for the week shed 517 jobs.

A survey from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, however, says the number of jobs lost in the state as a result of the depressed oil economy may be worse than initially forecast.

Karr Ingham, the Texas economist who created an index measuring the industry, said that, when initial forecasts were made when the market downturn began in mid-2014, he expected no more than 50,000 jobs would be lost in Texas. Now, he puts the conservative estimate at around 56,000.

"It is certain that job losses have continued," he said in an emailed statement. "We now appear to be well beyond that [initial] estimate -- and the end is not is sight."

Federal data show Texas has an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent, compared with a national rate of 5 percent. The state mining and logging industry, however, is depressed when compared with other sectors, losing 9 percent of its workforce over the last year.

The latest survey from the Dallas Federal Reserve said Houston and Fort Worth, areas with a heavy focus on oil and gas, saw job growth weaken, while prospects in other metropolitan areas remains "robust."

The bank in October said much of the state has diversified away from energy. Some of the workers laid off from the energy sector are not showing in data figures because they've moved out of the state and out of the Texas labor force.

A late-summer report from the Dallas banks said regional economic metrics indicated mostly positive momentum, "except in the energy sector."


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