According to the 2011 West Virginia Horizontal Well Control law, the Dept. of Commerce’s Workforce West Virginia agency is required to file an annual report detailing the number of jobs created (or lost) in the shale drilling industry in the state. The report is due by Nov. 1 each year. Last year, the 2013 report showed a big jump of 20%, with wages going up $5,500 in just one year–to $75,580 (see Looking for a Job in the Marcellus? Think WV). A lot of WV’s employment is tied to building pipelines. The report for 2014 is fresh out. What does it show? It shows 1,100 more people found jobs in the industry this year–however, many pipeline projects ended and with them, jobs working on those pipelines. In the end, according to the report, only 69 net new jobs were created throughout the industry over the past year when you add the new workers and take out the temp jobs now ended. However, the average wage for all workers in the oil & gas sector in WV went up again–another $2,400 per year…
