Comparing Green Sector Employment in Oregon

The Oregon Employment Department recently studied the trends in employment, wages, and hours for workers in the state's seven green sectors*. Here are some highlights of their findings:

• Most of the state's green sectors fared better between the fourth quarters of 2005 and 2010 than Oregon industries in general. Covered employment for the seven green sectors in Oregon totaled 45,311 in the fourth quarter of 2005. That figure rose to 46,172 by the fourth quarter of 2010, an increase of nearly 2 percent over the period.
  

• The energy efficiency sector experienced the largest nominal job loss (-574 jobs or 4%) between the fourth quarters of 2005 and 2010. However, the largest share of employment was lost in the green building and development sector (-278 jobs or -12%). Declines in these two sectors were likely tied to the commercial and residential construction industries, which took a particularly hard hit during the Great Recession that began in late 2007 .

• Each of the seven green sectors studied pay relatively high wages. In the fourth quarter of 2010, the median hourly wage for firms of all ownerships in all sectors across Oregon was $16.96. The hourly median wage in Oregon's green sectors ranged from a low of $20.72 in green manufacturing to a high of $39.16 in energy transmission.

You can find more details in the full article, or you delve deeper by looking at the full green sectors report.

*As defined by the Oregon Green Jobs Council