Donald Trump, during his presidency, made a significant assertion about the number of fracking jobs in Pennsylvania. Trump claimed that Pennsylvania has over 500,000 jobs related to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. However, research and official data say otherwise.
Hydraulic fracturing, popularly known as fracking, is a method deployed in the extraction of natural gas and oil from deep rock formation. Pennsylvania has traditionally been one of the major states involving in fracking given its rich Marcellus Shale reserves.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the number of jobs in industries directly related to oil and natural gas extraction, including fracking, in Pennsylvania, is significantly lower than the 500,000 figure Trump mentioned. In fact, the bureau’s data shows that Pennsylvania had about 26,000 jobs in the oil and natural gas industry as of 2019. These figures also include jobs not directly associated with fracking, making Trump’s claim appear even more overblown.
The American Petroleum Institute estimated that 322,600 jobs in Pennsylvania were supported by the oil and gas industry, which still doesn’t back up Trump’s claim of 500,000 fracking jobs. This figure includes jobs indirectly supported by the industry, such as retail jobs that sell gasoline, or jobs in railroad companies that transport oil and gas.
Fact-check organizations and experts have therefore concluded that Trump’s claim of 500,000 fracking jobs in Pennsylvania is indeed an exaggeration. Trump’s figure raises the actual number by a significant factor. He may have vastly expanded the definition of ‘fracking jobs’ to include all sorts of jobs indirectly supported by the industry, but without a clear explanation of his methodology, this claim stands as inflated.
