July 2015
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World Coal
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13
T.L. Headley provides an analysis of the current
state and future of West Virginia's coal industry.
T
he West Virginia coal mining industry is currently six years into a downturn in
production. During this time period, coal production in the state has declined by 28%
from 168 million t in 2008 to just 122 million t today. Along with that drop in
production, direct coal mining employment has fallen from approximately 23 000 to
just 16 000 today. The workforce reductions have translated into declines in state payrolls – with
direct payrolls dropping from US$1.66 billion to US$1.15 billion.
Taking the assumption that one coal‑industry job supports five in the wider economy
(established in 2010 by a joint study of the industry by West Virginia University and Marshall
University), it can be projected that the decline in direct employment led to a further decline of
35 000 support jobs. Using the state’s average per capita wage of US$38 000, this decline in
support jobs has resulted in a further loss of US$1.33 billion – or a total of US$2.48 billion.
This reality is visible in recent unemployment reports fromWorkforce West Virginia and the
Department of Commerce. While the state’s overall unemployment rate is approximately 6.7%,
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