Featured Indicator No. 3

June 2009

 

Featured Indicator: S&E Occupations Per 1,000 Workers - New England States and U.S. – 2006

This indicator measures the amount of workers per 1,000 of the total workforce who are employed in Science and Technology occupations which include engineers, life and physical scientists, computer scientists and other related fields.  Maine falls behind all the other New England states in this area, with only 23.30 workers per 1,000 employed in S&E fields.   Massachusetts leads the pack with 58.32 workers per 1,000, higher than all of the other New England states as well as the United States and New England as a whole.  The United States as a whole falls almost right in the middle of all of the New England States with three above and two below and almost tied with Vermont for the amount of workers. 

Why This Is Significant
A labor market of scientists and engineers is essential to creating a vibrant research, development and technology enterprise. There is a direct correlation between the percent of the labor force in science and engineering occupations and the growth of health of the innovation-based industries. This indicator is a measure of the state’s ability to attract and retain highly skilled and highly educated workers who are critical to an innovation driven economy.

Sources

Scientists and Engineers - National Science Foundation/Division of Science Resources Statistics, Science & Engineering Indicators 2008, http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind08/

Workers - Civilian Labor Force - U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics - A34; http://www.bls.gov/lau/home.htm#data

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