The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced that it has awarded the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership $5 million under the Renewable Northwest Project to help increase worker skills in energy and renewable energy industries.

The project is expected to preserve and create 1,734 jobs in the renewable energy industries, including electric power and biofuels, by building a skilled workforce to support companies that generate power and help local manufacturers in retooling their workforce.

According to an article by The Oregonian, the funding will be distributed to agencies and schools in the Portland, Salem and Vancouver areas. Counties to benefit from the money include Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Marion, Polk and Yamhill in Oregon, as well as Clark, Cowlitz and Wahkiakum in Washington.

Grant partners so far include: Sheet Metal Workers Local 16, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Dist. No. 24, the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, Energy Trust of Oregon, four local Workforce Investment Boards, the bistate WorkSource system, six community colleges and economic development partners.

The additional green investment could help to boost Oregon's economy. Despite a small decline in unemployment, the state has maintained a relatively high unemployment rate and continued to see monthly and yearly job decreases.

During November 2009, Oregon's unemployment rate decreased from 11.2 percent to 11.1 percent, following a decrease from 11.3 percent during October. Despite that small decrease, the state's unemployment rate is still higher than the national unemployment rate of 10 percent.

Oregon had a total non-farm employment of 1,611,700 workers during November, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 1,616,300 workers during October and a 5.2 percent decrease from the previous year.