The latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows the U.S. manufacturing contributed $2.03 trillion to the national economy in 2012, or 12.5 percent of GDP. This was up from $1.56 trillion in 2000 and $1.92 trillion in 2011. In the National Association of Manufacturers’ Monday Economic Report, Chad Moutray, chief economist at NAM, reports this “suggests that manufacturing remains quite strong in the United States, with output continuing to expand and recovering from the falloff during the recession.” Additionally, he points out that manufacturing in the United States would be the eighth-largest country in the world if you were to compare manufacturing’s contribution with worldwide GDP values. Nations with GDP greater than U.S. manufacturing’s contribution were the United States, China, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Brazil.

Read the full Monday Economic Report for more manufacturing trends and highlights.

Gary J. Salamido
Vice President, Government Affairs
North Carolina Chamber