Over 106,000 people in the U.S clean energy sector lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic

Over 5.2 million people in the U.S have filed for unemployment claims as of the first week of April.

The new filing brings the total number of job losses, during the current coronavirus pandemic, to over 22 million.

The real estate industry was hard hit with home-building activity collapsing in March by 22.3%, as compared to February.

An analysis of Department of Labor data by the American Council on Renewable Energy—paints a challenging picture for the clean energy industry.

According to the data, 106,472 people working in clean energy roles filed for unemployment benefits in March as the industry struggles to soften the impact of the pandemic—which has caused issues with supply chains and forced some factories to shut down.

Projections show that over 500,000 people working in clean energy, 15% of the sector’s workforce, will lose their jobs in the following months.

This is a heavy blow for an industry that added over 70,000 jobs in 2019.