BLS Counts Green Goods and Services Jobs
There were 3.1 million of them in the United States in 2010, which represents 2.4 percent of total employment that year.
U.S. jobs associated with the production of green goods and services totaled 3.1 million in 2010, with 2.3 million of them in the private sector and 860,300 in the public sector, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported March 22. These are jobs producing goods and services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources.
California had more of them than any other state that year, 338,400 -– 2.3 percent of employment in the state. The state with the highest percentage was Vermont with 4.4 percent, and the District of Columbia's percentage was 3.9 percent.
The numbers come from the Green Goods and Services survey of about 120,000 businesses and government workplaces under the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program. These establishments are in 333 industries identified as potentially producing green goods or providing green services.
Manufacturing products that are counted include iron and steel from recycled inputs, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment meeting selected standards, hybrid cars and parts, and pollution mitigation equipment. Construction jobs (its 372,100 green goods and services jobs were 6.8 percent of total construction employment in 2010, according to BLS) include the construction of plants that produce energy from renewable sources and weatherizing and retrofit projects to reduce household energy consumption. BLS counted 349,000 GGS jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services and 319,900 in administrative and waste services.