At Least 3.1 Million Americans Employed In Green Sector, Labor Department Says

WASHINGTON (AP) — At least 3.1 million Americans are employed in green jobs, a sector that now accounts for about 2.4 percent of the nation's total employment, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The report represents the first time the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics has come up with an official count of environmentally friendly jobs, an emerging part of the economy and a centerpiece of President Barack Obama's stimulus plan.

Environmental groups cheered the report as an affirmation that green jobs are a real factor in the nation's economic growth. Obama has set a goal of creating 5 million green jobs and his stimulus plan provided $80 billion to help boost this sector.