The LinkedIn blog has some fascinating information we thought was well worth sharing:
How has our economy evolved in the past five years? Which industries are shrinking or growing through these challenging economic times? These are some of the questions that the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) delves into each February in the “Economic Report of the President” (ERP). This year, the CEA worked with us to glean further insights into industry trends both during the recent recession and after its end in June 2009 [1].
The fastest-growing industries include renewables (+49.2%), internet (+24.6%), online publishing (+24.3%), and e-learning (+15.9%). Fastest-shrinking industries were newspapers (-28.4%), retail (-15.5%), building materials (-14.2%), and automotive (-12.8%).
This information corresponds with what the National Solar Jobs Census found (see our report here), which is that there are now more than 100,000 solar jobs in the U.S., with the U.S. solar industry growing 10 times faster than the national economy during 2011, in the middle of a severe recession. For more on the “explosive” growth we’ve seen in clean energy, also see this article by Kate Gordon and others from the Center for American Progress. Their conclusion, again in sync with the information noted above, is that “the clean economy has continued to grow even while industries across America have had to lay off workers or close up shop.”
The bottom line: renewable energy growth is rapid and accelerating in the United States, a trend that is good for the economy, national security, and the environment — a “win, win, win,” in other words. Who wouldn’t cheer that?
