Employment is projected to decline; however, job opportunities should be favorable for construction and extraction, and production workers in coal mining and nonmetallic mineral mining.
While most mining jobs can be entered directly from high school, the increasing sophistication of equipment and machinery requires a higher level of technical skill.
Working conditions can be dangerous.
Earnings are higher than the average for all industries.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Career Guide to Industries, 2014-2024 Edition
Interesting Fact
Dentists have one of the highest suicide rates of all professions. Their rate of suicide is 6.64 times greater than the rest of the working population.