Jack SmithAugust 2, 2018
Even though California recently surpassed the U.K. to become the world’s fifth largest economy, the cannabis economy in the Golden State could soon be surpassed by that of the Empire State, a new study shows.
The study, published by Joblift, shows that cannabis growth in California is “steadily declining,” while New York is experiencing strong growth. New York is now third in terms of gross domestic product and is experiencing a “surge in medical marijuana job postings,” with the study saying it could hold “the most potential for overall growth in the sector.”
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York are seeing the most job growth, New York seeing two times more job postings (155 vs. 67) in the first half of 2018, compared to the prior year. Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are also seeing strong growth in job postings, with the Keystone State seeing a five-fold surge in openings to 82. Massachusetts saw a jump by a factor of four in the same time frame.
California, the first state to legalize medical marijuana, had 856 job openings last year, while Florida and New York rounded out the top three, with 295 and 236 openings, respectively.
“The medical marijuana sector is one that everyone should keep an eye on,” says Matt Kopjak, Managing Director of the US Market at Joblift said in a statement. “The medical sector, in general, is incredibly lucrative; medical marijuana should be no different. It has the potential to create employment opportunities for a wide variety of professionals and, based on our numbers, could prove to be a boon to the American labor market.”
A recent study by BDS Analytics, shows that marijuana is expected to be legal in 35 states by 2021, employ 414,400 people and generate $40 billion annually in profits.
The medical marijuana industry is experiencing strong job growth throughout the country, with a 24 percent jump in posting over the first half of 2018, compared to the first half of 2017. In total, there were 3,367 medical marijuana-related postings over the past 12 months.
Interestingly enough, the marijuana industry is actually surpassing the strong growth seen in the entire U.S. labor market, at a time of strong economic growth. On Wednesday, ADP said the U.S. economy created 219,000 jobs, easily surpassing economists’ expectations of 185,000. The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its official report on Friday.
It’s likely that a good percentage of jobs will continue to go towards medical professionals, such as doctors, nurses or pharmacists. Joblift determined that 15 percent of the aforementioned 3,367 job openings were for medical professionals. However, Joblift also notes that other areas will continue to see a surge in listings, such as delivery drivers, marketing and sales, graphic designers and other areas.
“While at present it seems that the industry favors highly-skilled workers, there are indicators that it will create opportunities across the board,” Joblift wrote in the statement.
