BEA’s Factory Factoids in Honor of Manufacturing Day

U.S. factories do their part to keep the U.S. economy humming. Did you know that manufacturing accounts for 12 percent of overall U.S. economic activity as measured by Gross Domestic Product? The Bureau of Economic Analysis produces a slew of economic statistics on how manufacturing and other U.S. industries are performing and impact the economy. Given that Oct. 2 is Manufacturing Day, it’s the perfect time to share with you some other manufacturing data nuggets that we produce.

• Manufacturing accounted for $6.1 trillion in gross output, or sales, and more than $2 trillion in U.S. GDP in 2014.
• That same year 12.2 million full-and part-time employees worked in manufacturing in the United States, the most since 2008, with employment in the production of durable goods, including fabricated metal products, machinery, and computer and electronic products, leading the way.

Want to know where manufacturing plays the biggest role in regional economies? You can rely on BEA data to answer that question.

According to BEA’s GDP by metropolitan area statistics released on Sept. 23, the top five metro areas with the highest concentration of manufacturing in the United States are: Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana; Kokomo, Indiana; Columbus, Indiana; Lake Charles, Louisiana; and Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas. We also have this information on a state-by-state basis. All you have to do is visit our interactive database to access the statistics.

You can find manufacturing’s (and other industries’) share of GDP, its gross output, and dollar contributions to the U.S. economy in BEA’s GDP by Industry data all available on our website. BEA will release a new batch of quarterly industry statistics on Nov. 5, showing how manufacturing and other industries performed in the April to June quarter of this year.

Providing businesses and individuals with the statistics they need to compete in the global marketplace is one way that BEA is helping to unleash the power of data.