In 2015, U.S. coal production, consumption, and employment fell by more than 10%

U.S. coal production dropped by more than 10% in 2015 to 897 million short tons (MMst), the lowest production level since 1986. Production in all three major coal-producing regions (the Appalachian, the Interior, and the Western) declined, as consumption of coal for electric power generation, industrial, and other uses fell by 13% to 798 MMst in 2015. Employment at U.S. coal mines fell 12% to about 66,000 employees in 2015, the lowest level since EIA began collecting coal mining employment data in 1978. The declining trend has continued into 2016 as indicated by the most recent weekly coal production data: U.S. year-to-date coal production as of October 29, 2016, totaled approximately 607 MMst, 20% lower than the comparable year-to-date coal production in 2015. EIA’s Annual Coal Report compiles annual data on several coal metrics such as production, consumption, stocks, prices, […]

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