…Education, not so much

A recent blog from Commercial Cafe provides some interesting visualizations and breakdowns of job data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

First, let’s start with what industries are under- and over-represented in Nevada. We’ll start with the obvious – no state does tourism like we do. It’s not even close in hospitality, and Nevada is one of the top states for service jobs as well. Combined, these two job categories make up 17.3% of all labor (many other management jobs in gaming/tourism would be classified under “businesses”). Here’s a look:

Since we’re looking at share of jobs, overperformance in one area means underperformance in another. Education stands out – not only is Nevada last in the nation, but it’s not even close. Just 3.9% of our jobs are in education, while 49th-place Florida is at 4.7%. Businesses often list struggles finding the trained workforce they need in our state – a bigger education sector will be key to diversification.

Now let’s switch gears to job growth. One place where Nevada isn’t doing that bad is in the industrial sector. While we’re not a leader in manufacturing, we have seen a big jump in online retail fulfillment and warehousing, and construction is back as a major employer. But that’s not the fastest growing job…

It’s electrical assemblers. Seem strange? Look up at that big, beautiful burning ball of gas in the sky. The clean energy boom, driven in part by recent policy changes, is dramatically expanding the number of jobs in solar power.

Nevada is the only state to have energy as its fastest growing industry. Other states have industrial growth in manufacturing or chemicals. And despite our state’s growing senior population, it’s neighbors like California, Arizona, and Idaho that see personal care aides as the fastest growing job. Most of the remaining Western states are expanding in marketing or HR.

Go over to Commercial Cafe and play around with the maps yourself.