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More than 10,000 individuals are enrolled in state-registered apprenticeship programs in Oregon for the first time since officials began tracking such numbers, the Bureau of Labor and Industries announced on Tuesday.

Spurred mainly by a strong construction industry, participation in state-registered programs has more than doubled in the past six years from 4,618 in early 2013 to 10,002 in June 2019. Also, diversity is increasing, with the number of women apprentices growing over the same period from 293 to 705 and the number of minority apprentices rising from 683 to 1,979.

鈥淚t’s great to see Oregonians from diverse backgrounds choosing this path in record numbers,鈥� Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle stated in a press release. 鈥淩egistered apprenticeships lead to lots of different careers with family-supporting wages. In an apprenticeship, you’re getting paid to learn. And when you’re done, there’s no student debt.鈥�

BOLI currently certifies and monitors 146 active apprenticeship programs across the state. The largest are programs for carpenters, electricians, plumbers and steamfitters. The two occupations with the greatest growth are carpenter and electrician. This is in line with figures showing roughly 85 percent of all new apprentices over the past three years are working in the construction industry, which this year reached a record number of 113,000 jobs in Oregon, according to BOLI.

The immediate future remains promising in this regard, with some $7.5 billion worth of public construction projects in the pipeline over the next several years.