MoreIn the midst of all the doom and gloom of the current economic environment, it’s great to find some bright spots. One comes in the form of the quarterly report from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA, www.awea.org), which shows that the U.S. wind energy industry installed almost 1400 MW in the third quarter. The organization expects total 2008 installations to surpass 2007 levels to reach around 7500 MW.
The really good news is the number of jobs these installations are creating-the AWEA estimates 9000 new positions have been created as a result of new and/or expanding wind energy facilities.
Believe it or not, there was actually some good news from the Commerce Department (www.commerce.gov) yesterday, with the announcement that durable goods orders in September increased by 0.8%. The boost came from the transportation arena (commercial aircraft and motor vehicles). Not including transportation, orders fell by 1.1%. Nevertheless, orders were expected to drop overall, so even that tiny increase was seen as a bright spot.
And markets around the world have reacted positively to the Fed’s cut of the federal funds interest rate yesterday, among other measures. The rate was cut by half a point to 1%.
What are some bright spots in your industry? Please share them with us by adding a comment below.
The really good news is the number of jobs these installations are creating-the AWEA estimates 9000 new positions have been created as a result of new and/or expanding wind energy facilities.
Believe it or not, there was actually some good news from the Commerce Department (www.commerce.gov) yesterday, with the announcement that durable goods orders in September increased by 0.8%. The boost came from the transportation arena (commercial aircraft and motor vehicles). Not including transportation, orders fell by 1.1%. Nevertheless, orders were expected to drop overall, so even that tiny increase was seen as a bright spot.
And markets around the world have reacted positively to the Fed’s cut of the federal funds interest rate yesterday, among other measures. The rate was cut by half a point to 1%.
What are some bright spots in your industry? Please share them with us by adding a comment below.
With access to over one million professionals and more than 60 industry-specific publications,
