Solar-energy jobs booming in U.S., Arizona

[jpak]

http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2012/11/27/news/state/doc50b470ea398ca743641354.txt

WASHINGTON — Solar energy jobs in the U.S. grew by 13 percent over the past year, a rate almost six times faster than the national average employment growth rate.

And Arizona officials said they are confident the state saw similar job growth, even though the report by the Solar Foundation did not break the numbers down by individual state.

“Right now, there are a bunch of small towns in southwestern Arizona where you can’t find a place to live because everyone is working on these solar jobs,” said Bruce Plenk, Tucson’s solar energy coordinator.

The National Solar Jobs Census 2012 released this month said there were just over 119,000 workers in the solar energy industry in the United States, up 13.2 percent from August 2011.

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[neffernin]

1. Odd

But didn't First Solar just contract their workforce by like 75%?