A recent study has established that employment is affected by oil prices in a very particular way.
Elasticities of Employment w/r to Oil Prices
| Total U.S. Employment |
-0.02
|
| Coal Mining |
0.24
|
| Oil and Gas Extraction |
0.40
|
| Oil Field Machinery |
0.29
|
| Refining |
-0.03
|
| Petrochemicals |
0.36
|
In other words, though a doubling in the price of oil would decrease employment in America by 2%, it would increase employment within most sectors of our oil production matrix by leaps and bounds. If accurate, this might shed light on some perverse political incentives.
