The unemployment rate among doctoral SEH fields in October 2008 was 1.7 percent.
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January 27, 2011
Data released today by the National Science Foundation show the recent economic recession had less effect on doctoral degree holders in science, engineering and health (SEH) fields than it did on the general population.

According to a new NSF report, the unemployment rate in October 2008 for SEH doctorate recipients was 1.7 percent, whereas the unemployment rate for the total U.S. labor force was 6.6 percent.

The report, "Unemployment Among Doctoral Scientists and Engineers Remained Below the National Average in 2008," was issued by NSF's Division of Science Resources Statistics.

The report found that about 752,000 individuals in the United States held SEH research doctoral degrees in 2008, an increase of 5.6 percent from 2006. Of this, 662,600 were employed or actively seeking work.

Unemployment rates ranged from 1 percent among SEH doctorate recipients in mathematics and statistics to 2.4 percent for those in the physical sciences.

More information from this report can be found on the National Science Foundation's website.

-NSF-

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Bruce Rayner

2/7/2011 11:44 AM EST

Built-asset consultancy EC Harris (London) estimates that China invested $120 billion to $160 billion in renewable energy between 2007 and 2010. The consultancy ranks China’s clean energy investment climate fourth, behind Germany, France and the United States. The investment factors considered include energy policy, incentives, subsidies, purchasing quotas and tax breaks.

“The Chinese government has set an ambitious target of becoming the world leader in terms of design, development and production of renewable energy technologies, and has invested huge sums of money into developing this sector,” said Mark Stewart, an EC Harris partner. “The aim is to diversify away from producing cheap goods and into developing and producing high-tech, high-value, homegrown technologies, starting with those in the renewable energy sector.”

Today, China generates less than 8 percent of its total energy from wind, solar, nuclear and hydroelectric power, but the nation’s goal is to double nonfossil-fuel-based energy production to 15 percent by 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Coal’s share of the pie is expected to decline to 62 percent by 2035.

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