Cheap Oil Isn't Leading to Massive Oilpatch Layoffs. Yet

There was some concern leading up to the jobs report that low oil prices, and subsequent layoffs in the oil and gas sector, would drag down overall hiring in January. While the oil industry did lose some jobs, about 1,900 last month in the extraction sector (the most since January 2009), it was hardly enough to eat into what was a monster month for hiring overall.

Since oil prices peaked last June at $107 a barrel, total employment in oil and gas extraction is actually up by about 2,000 jobs. At least so far, the sector doesn't seem to be cutting back so much as leveling off. There will certainly be more layoffs to come, especially as rig counts continue to fall. But a few months into the oil crash, massive layoffs in the oil patch have yet to show up in a big way.