Report: Cannabis is Fastest Growing Sector in U.S. Job Market
According to a new report from Leafly and Whitney Economics, the marijuana industry added 64,389 jobs in 2018 — an increase of 44 percent from 2017.
There are now more than 211,000 legal cannabis jobs in the U.S., and that numbers jumps to 296,000 when indirect jobs (suppliers or independent contractors) and induced jobs (project or business financing) are included, the report says.
In 2018, legal marijuana sales grew 34 percent to $10.8 billion in the U.S., according to the report.
In January 2018, California became one of the leaders in job creation among states that have legalized cannabis by allowing dispensaries to sell recreational marijuana. The report projects that California will add more than 10,000 cannabis jobs in 2019.
“It’s been five years since Colorado and Washington opened their first adult-use retail cannabis stores, and we’re just now seeing a slowing in the rate of cannabis growth in those two states,” the report says.
States with robust medical marijuana businesses and those that allow for recreational sales have helped jobs proliferate. Florida saw a boom across its medical marijuana industry, adding 10,358 full-time jobs (as of January 2019), compared to the year before.
“If cannabis job gains follow on at a conservative 20 percent in 2019, that will represent a 110 percent gain in full-time jobs in three years,” the report says.
Further legalization of recreational marijuana in states like New York and New Jersey, which are considering changing their laws, will only boost the job market even more.
To access the Leafly report, click here.
