US mines buck hiring trend

International Longwall News Monday, 22 December 2008 US MINE operations have gone against the trend of widespread job losses across the nation, adding 16,000 new jobs in 2008, according to the US Department of Labor. Across America, 2.7 million jobs have disappeared since December 2007. However, as of December coal added 7,000 new positions while metal and mineral mine staffs jumped by 9,000. The agency said the increased numbers represent a rise of 10% over the final numbers of 2007 for coal complexes, 4% for metal/nonmetal. It warned, however, that some producers have announced layoffs since the data was compiled due to the ongoing economic environment. For November the US lost 533,000 jobs but coal actually gained 1,000 in 30 days, a 1% rise. During that same period, metal and mineral mines added 300 new jobs to their payrolls.