Jobs at the core of Ohio’s growing shale industry, including those in pipeline construction and well drilling, grew nearly 18% and paid an average wage of more than $76,000 during the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a quarterly report by the state’s Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).

Meanwhile, ancillary jobs from shale development, such as freight trucking and environmental consulting, declined by less than 0.1% during 4Q2012, the most recent quarter with figures available.

In a 24-page report released in July, the ODJFS said core jobs in the shale industry paid an average wage of $76,643, while ancillary jobs paid an average of $58,908. Both figures were above the average wage for all industries in Ohio, which was $44,242.

“For Ohio families and communities still struggling to regain their financial footing after the recession, this is welcome news,” said ODJFS Director Michael Colbert. He added that Ohio was “fortunate to have a natural gift with great potential for reinvigorating our economy…safely and responsibly extracting this oil and gas and making them usable as energy sources will take work, but Ohio is perfectly poised to do that work.”

According to the ODJFS, an additional 1,319 core jobs in the shale industry were created during 4Q2012, compared to 4Q2011, but there was also a loss of 77 ancillary jobs during the same time frame. The number of shale-related business establishments totaled 13,470 during 4Q2012.

The state agency used classifications from the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to define its shale-related industries. Six industries were considered core shale industries: crude petroleum and natural gas extraction, natural gas liquid (NGL) extraction, drilling oil and gas wells, support activities for oil and gas operations, oil and gas pipeline construction, and pipeline transportation of natural gas. Another 30 NAICS classifications were deemed ancillary shale jobs.

Core shale jobs grew 42.6% in the 12 counties in the Dayton Development Coalition, one of six JobsOhio regions in the state. Jobs in the Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth (APEG) region (based in Nelsonville, OH) grew 27.9%, while the Team NEO (Cleveland) and Regional Growth Partnership (Toledo) regions grew 9.7% and 6.9%, respectively. Core shale jobs fell 19.2% and 15.6%, respectively, in the Columbus and Cincinnati regions.

Jobs in the crude petroleum and natural gas extraction field paid the most during 4Q2012, averaging $104,902. NGL extraction followed at $80,873. Pipeline transportation of natural gas jobs paid an average wage of $74,981, followed by oil and gas pipeline construction ($63,755), support activities for oil and gas operations ($56,808) and drilling oil and gas wells ($50,498).

Among the 30 ancillary industries in shale, petrochemical manufacturing paid the most, averaging $96,636. Fossil fuel electric power generation came in a close second at $94,472. Rounding out the top five ancillary jobs were natural gas distribution ($73,563), engineering services ($71,951) and industrial gas manufacturing ($69,743).

Although most of the ODJFS report reflected information for 4Q2012, it did report that the number of core shale jobs posted online grew 32% between 2Q2012 and 2Q2013, from 150 jobs posted to 198. Meanwhile, ancillary job postings fell 8.5% during the same time frame, from 6,386 to 5,841.

Combined core and ancillary job postings only grew in one JobsOhio region, the Nelsonville-based APEG, where there was a 34.5% increase in postings. APEG includes several counties in the heart of the Utica: Belmont, Carroll, Guernsey, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe, Noble and Washington.