These Are The Fastest-Growing (And Declining) Jobs In The US

As the inexorable advance of automation kills jobs from retail to manufacturing to data entry while wages in the US show only marginal signs of improvement, the Labor Department"s latest biennial employment projections have revealed the fastest and slowest-growing fields in the US.

…The industries that dominate the list aren"t surprising. Home health aides, statisticians, solar-panel installers and software developers and other jobs that, as Bloomberg points out, reflect the needs of an aging population, a shift to clean energy and employer demand for science, technology and math talent.

Solar photovoltaic installers – America’s fastest growing field – are responsible for installing systems on roofs or other structures, and earning a median annual wage of $39,240 in 2016 - is projected to more than double from 2016 to 2026, according to data from the Labor Department’s biennial employment projections.

A staggering eight of the remaining 14 fastest-growing occupations are in health care, with median salaries in 2016 ranging from $21,920 for personal care aides to $101,480 for physician assistants. The highest paid among them - mathematicians - earned a median $105,810 last year, though the job typically requires a master’s degree. And as baby boomers advance into their twilight years – the while the knock-on effects of the opioid crisis continue to multiply – more growth is effectively assured.

…Meanwhile the fastest de typists, watch repairers, and postal workers are facing a bleaker outlook, the Labor Department data show...

In America’s topsy-turvey labor market – where the unemployment rate can still tumble to record lows during a month where hurricanes caused the US economy to shed 33,000 jobs – college students and early-career workers need to be cognizant of the challenges they might face in the labor market – especially given the paucity of careers that require or strongly encourage applicants to have a background in Art History.  
 

ITC Votes In Favor Of Imposing Tariffs On Cheap (Chinese) Solar Panel Imports

In a decision that could potentially have a profound impact on US trade policy, the US International Trade Commission has ruled that a flood of cheap, foreign solar panels is unfairly hurting US manufacturers, creating the opportunity for President Donald Trump to follow through on his protectionist campaign rhetoric and impose tariffs and import quotas as soon as November.

If Trump imposes the tariffs, what would be his second significant protectionist act targeting China since approving an investigation into the country"s controversial IP policies that some view as tantamount to starting a trade war. Tariffs would upend the $29 billion US solar industry, according to Bloomberg. More expensive prices for cells and panels would hurt demand for solar potentially reversing a trend of growing demand that has persisted for much of the past decade. Even before the Friday vote, some developers had halted construction and begun hoarding supplies, anticipating that tariffs could double the price of imported components.

The ITC is now set to deliver its recommendations to address the import surge to the president by Nov. 13, handing him an opportunity to score political points on three priorities: He can slap a tariff on China and argue he’s protecting US jobs, all while undermining an industry that competes with coal, an energy that Trump cultivated close ties with during the campaign. The ITC"s vote gives Trump a measure of cover to impose the sanctions.

The case was inspired by Georgia-based Suniva Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection in April and followed up days later with the trade suit. The company is seeking import duties of 40 cents a watt for solar cells, and a floor price of 78 cents a watt for panels, which currently average about 32 cents worldwide. The US unit of German panel manufacturer SolarWorld AG joined Suniva to argue that the company had been driven to bankruptcy by a global glut of cheap cells, an industry dominated by China. Unlike earlier trade cases, this one would apply on U.S. imports from any nation.

Shares of First Solar popped because it’s panel technology would be excluded while shares of other solar companies tumbled. 

Shares of Tesla, which bought Solar City last summer, remain at the lows of the day.

Most of the US solar industry, which uses the cheap panels for rooftop or utility-scale projects, oppose tariffs, arguing that inexpensive imports have driven a boom in US solar projects and tens of thousands of jobs hang in the balance. Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, called it an “ill-conceived case” driven by creditors wanting to recover some of their investments “in poorly run companies.”

“The petitioners made bad business decisions during the biggest boom in American solar energy history,” Ross Hopper said before the vote. “These companies are not worthy of an injury finding.”

The ruling is unusual because it relies on a rarely used provision of a trade law that offers companies a “global safeguard” that can result in broad, uniform protection against imports - not just tariffs on specific countries or companies. Under that 1974 trade measure, Suniva only had to prove that imports have caused it “serious injury” — not that foreign competitors did anything unfair or illegal. Also, Suniva"s majority owner, Shunfeng International Clean Energy Ltd., opposes the move. The ITC is also pursuing a separate global safeguard investigation of large residential washers as manufacturers, encouraged by Trump"s rhetoric, have filed more cases, believing the administration would follow up on a favorable ruling with sanctions.

Of course, tariffs would also complicate Trump"s relationship with China at a time when the administration is pressuring China to do more about North Korea.

Read the ITC"s full statement below:

The U.S. International Trade Commission has determined that Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells (Whether or Not Partially or Fully Assembled Into Other Products) are being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or threat of serious injury, to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with the imported article in the United States.

As a result, the investigation will move to a remedy phase.

More information will be provided in a news release to be issued later today.  That news release will replace this bulletin when it is available.

Is This The First Sign Of A US-Chinese Solar War?

Authored by Gregory Brew via OilPrice.com,

After a banner year for solar power installation in the United States, reports on the progress of solar power in the first quarter of 2017 have industry advocates hopeful that renewable energy will continue to grow throughout the year, despite competition from fossil fuels, U.S. government support for traditional energy sources and resistance towards cheap imported solar panels by domestic manufacturers.

The first months of 2017 saw 2 gigawatts of photovoltaic panels added, continuing a six-quarter streak and a huge boost in solar installations that came at the end of 2016, when more than 6 GWs were installed. The growth in Q1 of 2017 marks a slight decrease of 2 percent from the level last year, but it’s still indicative of an overall growth trend, as total additions have increased year on year since 2012, according to the Solar Market Insight Report.

Out of the 2 GWs added, about a quarter came in the form of rooftop panels added in the households segment, while utilities added the bulk of new production. The non-residential solar market has increased 29 percent year-on-year.

The growth comes as costs continue to fall. The report from the Solar Energy Industries Association indicated that for the first time, utility-scale costs for power fell below $1/Watt. Solar power accounted for 30 percent of total electricity capacity added in Q1, while natural gas came in at 41 percent and wind power 27 percent.

Solar now accounts for about 2 percent of total electricity generation in the U.S., behind wind power at 6 percent and natural gas at 34 percent.

Most of the projects currently adding new solar capacity were planned some years ago, and there is some speculation that continued growth in solar power will slow due to policies undertaken by the Trump Administration, a strong advocate for conventional oil and gas. Yet the SEIA estimates that 12.6 GWs of solar power will be added in 2017, a slight decrease from 2016 but a strong indicator of growth nonetheless.

While there is wariness on the part of the industry towards the attitude of the Trump Administration, including its decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement, the mood continues to be cautiously optimistic, according to a report from the Washington Post.

A potential challenge could come in the form of federal action against important solar panels.

Suniva, an Atlanta-based solar power manufacturer, has argued that imported panels at rock-bottom prices has cut into its bottom line and forced it to lay off hundreds of workers. In late May the U.S. government agreed to hear Suniva’s claims and is now mulling the possibility of a tariff on imported solar panels and modules.

Suniva filed for bankruptcy in April, and shortly thereafter applied for relief against imported competition. Such applications, filed under Section 201 of the 1974 Trade Act, are quite rare, yet the federal government has already indicated its willingness to hear the case. Should the International Trade Commission rule in favor of Suniva, prices on solar panels would return to 2012 levels, rendering many planned projects uneconomic and potentially dooming the growth of solar power in the United States.

The SEIA has come out against the case. The ITC has determined that Suniva’s grievances are representative of the entire solar industry, but SEIA has argued that this is not the case and that a ruling in Suniva’s favor would be disastrous for solar power.

A second manufacturer, SolarWorld, has joined Suniva in requesting a federal investigation of solar panel imports. Meanwhile, SQN Capital Management, Suniva’s chief creditor, has hinted that a buy-out of the company’s assets by Chinese solar panel manufacturers would settle the issue, allowing the company to rehire its former employees and remain in business.

The U.S. has alerted the World Trade Organization that it is considering tariffs against imported solar panels, with a ruling from the ITC likely to come by November 2017.

Such an act would be chiefly aimed at China, which leads the world in solar panel production and exports, and it would be an aggressive move from a federal government which has thus far utilized both protectionist rhetoric and attitudes decidedly hostile towards renewable energy.

It will take some months before the Suniva dispute has any impact. In the meantime, solar power will continue to grow in the United States, driven by low cost, high demand and rising interest in renewable energy.