Report+on+Marcellus+shale+hiring+disputed

= By **Paul McMullen** = =// Published in the PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW //= = //6/22/11// = = = =A June report from the state Department of Labor and Industry says there have been 72,000 "new hires" in the booming Marcellus shale industry from 2009 to now, including jobs in ancillary industries, but that doesn't necessarily mean they all are new jobs, a state spokesman said.= =The number and its definition are important because industry advocates and proponents often debate the industry's benefits to the state.= =Labor Department spokesman Christopher Manlove said new hires do not equate to new jobs. The difference, he said, is that new jobs are jobs that didn't exist previously, whereas new hires are jobs that became available due to employees resigning, retiring or being fired.= =Still, "we believe Marcellus Shale represents some of the fastest-growing employment opportunities," he said.= =Susan Christopherson, professor in the department of city and regional planning at Cornell University, agrees with Manlove's assessment. "According to federal policy, the difference between new hires and new jobs is that with a new hire you are getting credit for hiring you would have done anyway," she said.= =A Keystone Research Center report Tuesday said the industry boom actually has created fewer than 10,000 new jobs in Pennsylvania. Figures from the state's industry reports are misinterpreted and being accepted as fact, according to Keystone.= ="You can't just keep track of the balance of your bank account by looking at deposits, you also have to look at the amount of withdrawals made as well," said Stephen Herzenberg, the center's executive director.= =Marcellus Shale Coalition president Kathryn Klaber said of the Keystone report, "People who were out of work and now have jobs thanks to Marcellus development are more than statistics, and they are proud that they now have jobs."= = Read more: [|Report on Marcellus shale hiring disputed - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] [] = = = =News= =home=