By Greentech
Lead Team: Core green economy in California has outperformed the overall
economy by retaining a greater percentage of its workforce during recession.
From January
2009 to January 2010, the state’s overall economy registered job losses of
seven percent. Those losses are more than two times higher than the job losses
tracked in the state’s Core Green Economy, which saw a three percent loss in
jobs.
In the long
term, employment in California’s Core Green Economy grew by 53 percent from
1995-2010, while jobs in the wider economy grew by 12 percent, according to the
data in 2012 Many Shades of Green: California’s Shift to a Cleaner, More Productive Economy.
“In
tracking the growth of the state’s Core Green Economy and the overall economy,
we found that the global financial crisis and the mortgage crisis that caused
our overall economy to go into a deep dive did not have as damaging an impact
on the state’s Core Green Economy,” said F. Noel Perry, founder of Next
10, the nonpartisan research group that produces the report.
California’s
overall economy saw seven percent job losses in the near term (Jan. 2009-Jan.
2010), while the Core Green Economy fared better in the recession, experiencing
three percent job losses. Over the longer term (1995-2010) California’s Core
Green Economy grew by 53 percent, while jobs in the wider economy grew by 12
percent over the same time period.
The
San Diego region, the Bay Area and the Sacramento area have shown the greatest
resilience when it comes to retaining jobs. Each recorded Core Green Economy
job losses of less than two percent from Jan. 2009-Jan. 2010, while the state
overall recorded seven percent job losses over the same time period.
Longer-term,
between 1995 and 2010, Core Green Economy employment expanded in the Sacramento
area by 113 percent and in the Bay Area by 76 percent. The San Diego region
(+65 percent) and Orange County (+62 percent) also recorded strong Core Green
Economy job growth numbers.
Manufacturing
represents a strong sector in the value chain, accounting for 27 percent of
jobs in the Core Green Economy compared to just ten percent in the total
economy. Manufacturing in the state’s Core Green Economy expanded by one
percent in the shorter term, and by 53 percent from 1995 to January 2010.
While
employment and business growth varies across the 15 green industry segments,
Energy Infrastructure (+14 percent), Advanced Materials (+4 percent), Clean
Transportation (+1 percent), and Energy Generation (+1 percent) bucked
recessionary trends, exhibiting growth during the recession from Jan. 2009-
Jan. 2010.
Households
and businesses that increase efficiencies are reaping financial benefits and
helping the state’s overall economy achieve greater energy and resource
productivity. Products and services developed in the state’s Core Green Economy
are accelerating and supporting this needed transition.
“During
the great recession, certain sectors of the overall economy suffered huge
losses. The Core Green Economy fared better when it came to retaining jobs and
businesses in California,” said Tracey Grose, vice president and director
of Research at Collaborative Economics, which authored the report for Next 10.
Manufacturing
is one sector in which this phenomenon is demonstrated. Manufacturing
jobs in California’s Core Green Economy shot up 53 percent from 1995 to 2010,
while manufacturing jobs on the whole dropped by 18 percent. In the near term,
manufacturing jobs in the state’s core green economy grew by one percent; in
the overall economy, they dropped by eight percent (Jan. 2009- Jan. 2010).