Released this month, the 2020 U.S. Energy and Employment Report highlights the strength of the energy efficiency sector in creating jobs for the American economy. The report noted energy efficiency has quickly become a major force in the larger energy sector and in the American economy overall.

Published by the Energy Futures Initiative, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C., and the National Association of State Energy Officials, a nonprofit association representing the 56 energy offices of the states, territories and the District of Columbia, the report includes a number of favorable key findings for the energy efficiency sector.

For example, the report finds that together the energy efficiency and traditional energy sectors employed 6.8 million people. They added over 120,300 new jobs in total, outperforming the rest of the economy in job creation.

By itself, energy efficiency now employs 2.38 million Americans and added 54,000 new jobs last year, which was the most of any sector. Those numbers are even more impressive over an expanded time frame. According to the report, energy efficiency has added 300,000 new jobs in the last four years.

The report also examines the role of energy efficiency in the transportation sector. It notes energy efficiency and fuel efficiency together contributed to the creation of over 400,000 new jobs in the last five years.

If job creation is a reliable indicator, then the American economy is certainly going green. According to the report, energy efficiency alone outpaced fossil fuels, such as oil and gas, which created 18,000 jobs last year.