Jobs in the U.S. energy industry grew by 3.8% last year, the Department of Energy confirmed on Wednesday. Energy jobs growth thereby outpaced overall employment growth.
114,000 energy industry jobs were added over the past year, largely spearheaded by the growing clean energy sector which includes solar power, wind, nuclear, and grid technologies as well as battery storage.
Natural gas fuels jobs rose by a significant 24.1% after adding 51,100 workers. This was followed by petroleum fuel jobs, where 58,100 new workers resulted in a 12.5% gain. Still, the total fuels workforce of around one million people falls short of 2019 levels, before the coronavirus pandemic saw a significant slide in fuel demand.
Battery electric vehicle jobs were the fastest growing of any clean technology, with the addition of 28,400 workers leading to a 27% job growth.
Overall, the energy sector added 300,000 jobs to reach a total workforce of over 8 million. The rise is largely attributed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which spiked global demand for liquified natural gas as demand already began to recover following the pandemic.
