DOE says clean energy is driving sector’s job growth

The U.S. economy created 142,000 clean energy jobs in 2023, nearly 25 percent more than it added the year before, the Department of Energy said Wednesday.

New clean energy jobs represent 56 percent of the 250,000-plus energy sector jobs added last year, according to DOE’s annual U.S. Energy and Employment Report. Total clean energy jobs in the U.S. grew by 4.2 percent in 2023, the report found.

That growth rate is “more than twice as much as” the job growth rate of 2 percent in the overall economy, the department said in a news release. DOE also said 12.4 percent of U.S. clean energy jobs were unionized in 2023, far above the 7 percent unionization rate nationwide.

In 2022, the U.S. added 114,000 new clean energy jobs, which are broadly defined as positions that contribute to decarbonization.