Dwight Steward, Ph.D. and Ryan Willett – Economic Thinking In Action

California and Texas both saw increase in job openings in March

California

California experienced an increase of 2,579 job openings from February 2015 to March 2015, a 0.47% monthly increase.

Month	Total Openings	Monthly Change	Yearly Change
Mar 15	555,001	0.47%	-1.77%
Feb 15	552,422	-1.54%	20.46%
Jan 15	561,081	28.68%	24.96%
Dec 14	436,019	-2.52%	-6.91%
Nov 14	447,277	-10.45%	15.15%
Oct 14	499,494	7.47%	21.56%
Sep 14	464,759	-18.01%	-2.91%
Aug 14	566,834	-0.67%	27.78%
Jul 14	570,648	6.01%	27.68%
Jun 14	538,310	0.55%	16.09%
May 14	535,368	-5.24%	20.85%

Texas

Texas experienced an increase of 2,110 job openings from February 2015 to March 2015, a 0.59% monthly increase.

Date	Total Openings	Monthly Change	Yearly Change
Mar 15	357,669	0.59%	-1.09%
Feb 15	355,559	-1.76%	20.02%
Jan 15	361,941	33.63%	25.94%
Dec 14	270,849	-2.92%	-10.76%
Nov 14	278,989	-11.11%	10.78%
Oct 14	313,873	8.34%	19.17%
Sep 14	289,703	-20.46%	-5.86%
Aug 14	364,236	-1.23%	27.59%
Jul 14	368,784	7.36%	28.75%
Jun 14	343,517	0.21%	14.99%
May 14	342,800	-5.20%	20.03%

Source: BLS

Top 3 occupations with the most new job openings in California for Apr

The top three occupations with the most new job openings in California for the month of April were Cashiers with 1,490 new openings, Secretaries and Administrative Assistants with 1,623 new openings, and Managers, All Other with 1,787 new openings.

April 2015

Occupation	Total Openings	New Openings
Cashiers	10,589	1,490
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants	9,466	1,623
Managers, All Other	12,409	1,787

Source: BLS

California RN’s, PA’s, and therapists see increase in job openings from Mar to Apr

The number of job openings in California for nurses, therapists, and physician assistants increased from 15,983 in March 2015 to 20,399 in April 2015. The searcher-to-job opening ratio increased from 1.22 to 2.16 in the same span.

Source: BLS

Image source: http://pediatric-nurse-practitioners.blogspot.com/2012/12/top-5-cardiac-care-nursing-jobs-for-we.html

Texas oil and gas extraction jobs increased by 0.5% from Feb to Mar

The oil and gas extraction industry in Texas gained 500 jobs from February 2015 to March 2015. Compared to March 2014, the cumulative number of jobs added in this industry is 2,100, an increase of 2.1%.

Source: http://www.tracer2.com/admin/uploadedPublications/2133_TLMR-March_15.pdf

Image Source: http://www.eliteexploration.com/texas-oil-gas-companies/

US, Texas and Eagle Ford Shale rig counts falls from March to April

The U.S. rig count was 932 in April 2015, down from 1,048 in March 2015; Texas rig count was 393 in April 2015, down from 462 in March 2015; The Eagle Ford Shale rig count was 115 in April 2015, down from 137 in March 2015.

Source:Baker Hughes

Both crude oil and natural gas prices decrease in March

WTI crude oil price decreased from $49.84 per barrel in February 2015 to $48.66 per barrel in March 2015. Natural gas price fell from $2.79 per million BTU (one million BTU is approximately 974 cubic feet) in February 2015 to $2.64 per million BTU in March 2015.

Texas crude oil production for January 2015 was 68,949,268 barrels, down from 77,599,222 barrels reported in December 2014. Texas natural gas production was 607,631,634 Mcf (thousand cubic feet) of gas in January 2015, down from the December 2014 gas production total of 674,495,129 Mcf.

Sources: eia.gov, rrc.state.tx.us

Texas RN’s, therapists, and PA’s see increase in job openings from Dec to Jan

The number of job openings in Texas for nurses, therapists, and physician assistants increased from 10,144 to 10,588 from December 2014 to January 2015. The searcher-to-job opening ratio increased from 0.63 to 0.91 during that same span.

Source: BLS

Image source: http://www.carrollhs.org/s/1253/index.aspx?pgid=877

Texas oil and gas extraction jobs decreased by 1.1% from Jan to Feb

The oil and gas extraction industry in Texas lost 1,100 jobs from January 2015 to February 2015. Compared to February 2014, the cumulative number of jobs added in this industry is 1,400, an increase of 1.4%.

Source: http://www.tracer2.com/admin/uploadedPublications/2133_TLMR-March_15.pdf

Image Source: http://www.eliteexploration.com/texas-oil-gas-companies/

Texas hydro-fracturing job openings decreased from Dec to Jan

The number of job openings in Texas for “petroleum engineers” and “geological and petroleum technicians” decreased from 595 in December 2014 to 517 in January 2015, while the searcher-to-job opening ratio also increased from 0.78 to 1.07 in the same span.

The number of job openings in Texas for “derrick operators” and “roustabouts” decreased from 259 in December 2014 to 178 in January 2015, while the searcher-to-job opening ratio also decreased from 10.35 to 6.14 in the same span.

roustabout_2015_01

Source: BLS

Image source: http://wonderfulengineering.com/what-is-petroleum-engineering/

Texas job openings by major occupational group for January

Texas January 2015

Total number of job openings and median searcher-to-job ratio across all MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) for each major occupational group in Texas in January 2015.

Occupation	Job Openings	Searchers-to-Job Ratio
Management, business, and financial occupations	56,662	0.58
Professional and related occupations	83,549	0.67
Office and administrative support occupations	55,482	0.89
Sales and related occupations	30,126	1.18
Service occupations	64,965	1.42
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	18,437	1.48
Transportation and material moving occupations	19,703	1.67
Production occupations	21,721	2.09
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	937	5.4
Construction and extraction occupations	14,583	5.44

Source: BLS