New data shows that California green businesses have increased 45% in number and 36% in employment from 1995 to 2008, while total jobs in the state expanded only 13%.
‘Many Shades of Green: Diversity and Distribution of California's Green Jobs,’ released by the nonpartisan Next 10 and Collaborative Economics, shows that as the economy slowed between 2007 and 2008, total employment fell 1%, but green jobs continued to grow by 5%.
The Sacramento area led the pack with job growth of 87% from 1995 to 2008, followed by the San Diego region (57%), the Bay area (51%), and Orange County and the Inland Empire (50%).
‘Data show that green-sector businesses are taking root across every region of California, generating jobs across a wide spectrum of skill levels and earnings potential,’ says F. Noel Perry, founder of Next 10. ‘While green jobs clearly cannot solve the state's current unemployment challenges, over time, these jobs could become a growing portion of total jobs in California.’
While the absolute numbers of green jobs are not large, they are comparable to the biotech and software sectors, according to the report.
Highlights of the report include the following:
– Manufacturing represents 21% of all green jobs, and grew 19%, while manufacturing represents only 11% of all jobs in California;
– With nearly 43,000 jobs in 2008, air and environment is the largest of California's green segments. While this segment's jobs remained steady, hovering around 35,000 from 1995-2005, since 2005, the number of green jobs in this segment has increased 24%; and
– From 1995-2008, energy generation employment expanded 61% by nearly 10,000 jobs.
SOURCE: Next 10
