Well, yes, lower gasoline/diesel prices will help those heavily dependent on those products. However, think about this; every direct (i.e. people directly employed by the company involved in drilling/extracting, etc...) is supported by a vast network of suppliers. When one drilling rig or well is shut down, then that rig or well no longer needs any supplies, workers, or support. All those involved will have to find other places to pick up that slack, or lay people off.
On the flip side of that, for every oil worker and support person who were making money on those jobs and have found themselves out of work, there will no longer be those people spending the same amount of money in the economy.
So restaurant jobs, stores, local business, shipping, and a multitude of other jobs that were not directly related to oil production, but a beneficiary of it, will now shrink. Then those people who were making money from the results of oil jobs are no longer making money from the oil people, either.
So restaurant jobs, stores, local business, shipping, and a multitude of other jobs that were not directly related to oil production, but a beneficiary of it, will now shrink. Then those people who were making money from the results of oil jobs are no longer making money from the oil people, either.
Replace the words "oil worker" with "manufacturing worker" and the rest would be true too.