Employment in U.S. energy services recorded another small decline in December, according to the Energy Workforce and Technology Council. Using data from Bureau of Labor Statistics, analysis by the council showed that employment in December was 629,372 – down by 184 positions from November. The December report ended “a year of workforce adjustment, market uncertainty and federal labor data disruptions.”
Employment peaked in April at 640,001 jobs before slowly declining through the second half of the year. Employment in 2025 was about 2.3 percent below figures for 2024.
Texas was again the decisive leader among states with 306,693 jobs in December ahead of Louisiana with 52,553, Oklahoma with 47,895, Colorado with 25,553 and New Mexico with 23,539. Texas reported 306,909 in September, but reliable numbers are not available for October and November because of the 43-day government shutdown.
Molly Determan, council president, said Jan. 9, “2025 tested the oilfield services sector’s workforce resilience. Market uncertainty, tariffs, permitting delays and inconsistent data reporting added complexity to planning and hiring.”