The U.S. Department of Energy on July 19 released its 2021 U.S. Energy Employment Report, which shows fuel ethanol employment fell slightly last year, but at a much lower rate than the overall U.S. fuels sector. Corn ethanol employment is expected to rebound this year.
The overall U.S. fuel sector lost 211,201 jobs in 2020, an 18.4 decline. Oil and gas experienced the steepest declines, at nearly 21 percent. The DOE estimates that corn ethanol employment fell by about 4 percent or 1,360 jobs last year, with employment at approximately 33,506.
Of those 33,506 jobs, the report shows approximately 15,589 are in agriculture, 9,005 are in manufacturing, 6,158 are in wholesale trade, 2,656 are in professional services, and 97 are in other services.
In 2020, 93 percent of employers in corn ethanol reported that hiring was either somewhat or very difficult. In addition, 81 percent of professional business services employers reported that hiring new workers was somewhat difficult or very difficult in 2020.
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