Solar jobs grow in California

Job Growth Continues to Blossom

California’s employers added jobs for the fourth straight month in a row, with April’s addition of 14,200 bringing this year’s total to 56,400, according to preliminary estimates by the state Employment Development Dept. Further evidence of the sluggish labor market coming back to life was a federal survey of households, which found 76,000 more Californians working than in the previous month. That number includes people who have been hired on a temporary basis or are self-employed. Venture-capital funding for startups also showed an increase of 12 percent in the first quarter of this year. Despite the progress, the state is still lagging behind much of the nation in reversing damage caused by the Great Recession. The gains are but baby steps in CA’s long road to recovery, with 355,300 jobs lost in the last year alone and more than two million Californians still unemployed. The state’s unemployment rate remained at its record high of 12.6 percent.

60,000 Solar Jobs to Brighten Future

California could be home to 60,000 new solar-industry jobs by 2016, according to a study by the Solar Energy Industries Association. The industry is projected to create 200,000 solar-related jobs in the nation overall, with 10 gigawatts of new solar installations during that time frame – enough to power 2 million homes.