HUNTER coal jobs have hit their highest end-of-year level in eight years, data shows, while the mining industry's state body says the NSW figure is hitting levels not seen since 2012.
The NSW Minerals Council said the latest Coal Services Pty Ltd data shows the state had 23,850 people directly employed in the coal industry at the end of last year. That level is the highest end-of-year figure in almost a decade.
Of those coal roles, 14,382 fell within the Hunter.
The figure compares to roughly 14,000 people employed by the industry in July 2014 before falling to 12,600 by the end of that year.
At the end of 2021, there were more than 13,250 mining workers in the Hunter's 28 mines.
NSW Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee described the change as a recovery in mining jobs and testament to the industry's importance and resilience.
"With the state election only days away, the growth in coal mining jobs across NSW in recent years shows the ongoing strength of the industry, and the need to ensure mining communities are supported," Mr Galiliee said.
"In addition to these nearly 24,000 coal mining jobs, the industry also supports the jobs of thousands more people in around 7000 local businesses in NSW that supply our mining operators.
"Whoever forms government following the state election will need to ensure the right policies are in place to support our world-class coal mining sector into the future."
The latest coal job figures arrive ahead of the March 25 poll in which the coal-heavy seat of Upper Hunter is considered one of the tightest races.
The Newcastle Herald reported earlier this week that NSW Labor has pledged to create a Hunter clean energy transition authority to oversee the move to renewables, designed to reskill and redeploy the region's existing power workers.
Chamber of commerce presidents in Singleton and Muswellbrook have previously estimated up to 90 per cent of those towns' businesses rely on the mining industry, whether directly or indirectly.
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