The International Energy Agency said that clean energy jobs jumped worldwide in recent years, especially as the sector flourishes in China, however, an impending skilled labor shortage is about to represent a huge barrier against more expansion.

The IEA's report found that employees in the energy sector surged today compared to 2019, mainly due to clean energy employment. 

In fact, clean energy employees outpaced their fossil fuel counterparts in 2021, with the gap continuing to expand. 

Last year, the global workforce in the energy sector reached 67 million jobs, up 3.4 million from 2019, with the clean energy sector alone adding 4.7 million jobs in that period to a total of 35 million jobs. 

The main powerhouses of the clean energy sector are: solar and wind energy, electric vehicle and battery manufacturing, mining important precious metals used in clean energy industries. 

Despite the brisk growth of the clean energy jobs, the IEA expects a considerable shortage in skilled labor to stand against further expansion. 

The IEA noted that the number of individuals getting certificates to work in the energy sector is not keeping up with demand. 

Studies have shown that while US policies will help create over 9 million jobs in the clean energy sector in the next decade, the rate of job creating will remain below demand. 

US stock indices gained ground on Monday amid calm and optimism in the market about the prospects of ending the current cycle of US monetary tightening, following data that showed weakening labor conditions and lower inflation. 

All three stock indices in the US marked strong gains last week, while Dow Jones marked the third weekly profit in row. 

The US market is closing on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, while the Friday session will be truncated, and such short weekly sessions are usually volatile, however November has so far proved incredibly profitable for the S&P 500. 

Now investors await NVIDIA's quarterly results tomorrow, after its stock surged by over 200% so far this year on the back of stellar profits.

On trading, Dow Jones rose 0.2% as of 15:02 GMT to 35,007, while S&P 500 rose 0.3%, or 12 points to 4526, as NASDAQ rose 0.6%, or 88 points to 14,214. 

Copper prices rose on Monday to eight-week highs as the dollar lost ground, with demand improving as Chinese officials vow to prop up the real estate market.

Copper three-month futures at the London Metals Exchange rose 0.8% to $8335 a tonne, approaching September 29 highs. 

Copper December futures also rose 0.3% at the Shanghai Futures Exchange to 67980 yuan a tonne.

The dollar plumbed a two-month trough as traders believe the current cycle of US policy tightening has already ended. 

A weaker dollar makes dollar-denominated metal futures cheaper to holders of other currencies.

Simultaneously, China's central bank has vowed to support the real estate market with financial and liquidity life lines.

The real estate market is a huge consumer of the copper and other industrial metals, and a stronger real estate sector will no doubt boost demand on minerals.

Aluminium rose 1.3% as the London Metals Exchange to $2235.50 a tonne, while nickel rose 0.5% to $16,980, while zinc rose 1.1% to $2582, as tin rose 0.1% to $24865. 

At the Shanghai Exchange aluminium rose 0.7% to 19010 yuan per tonne, while lead rose 0.6% to 17055 yuan, while nickel slid 1.1% to 135310 yuan. 

Otherwise, the dollar index fell 0.4% as of 14:48 GMT to 103.5, with a session-high at 103.9, and a low at 103.4. 

Copper December futures rose 0.7% in American trade as of 14:44 GMT to $3.80 a pound. 

Dollar fell in European trade against a basket of major rivals, sharpening losses for the second straight loss, and plumbing a 2-1/5 month trough amid the prospects the Fed has already wrapped up the current cycle of policy tightening.

Now markets are focusing on the likely date of the first interest rate cut in 2024, analysing new data to determine the timeline. 

The Index

The dollar index fell 0.35% to 103.47, the lowest since September 1, with a session-high at 103.97, after closing down 0.6% on Friday, the first loss in three days  . 

The index lost 1.9% last week, the second weekly loss in three weeks, and the largest since July.

Such a hefty loss came after a stream of weak US data,  which ruled out another interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve next month. 

Following the data, the odds for a Fed interest rate hike in December plummeted to just 1%.

Now investors put a 30% chance of a Fed interest rate cut in March 2024. 

Markets await more data to determine the likely path ahead for US policies, chief of which the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes, scheduled for release tomorrow.