JEC Hearing 6-22-11 "Manufacturing in the USA"

"The U.S. manufacturing sector has changed dramatically over the last several decades. Manufacturing productivity in America has soared, what took 1,000 workers to produce in 1950 now takes only 184. U.S. manufacturers produce 65 percent of what our country consumes, down from 80 percent three decades ago.

Many consumer goods that were manufactured here are now imported. In the 1960s, U.S. manufacturers made 98 percent of America’s shoes, but today 90 percent of shoes are imported. During the same time, entirely new manufacturing industries have arisen in America - such as in computer chips. Chemical products, food, computers & electronics, fabricated metal products and machinery are the top five manufactured products in America today.

While technology and productivity has shrunk the American manufacturing workforce over the past 40 years, manufacturing remains an important part of our economy. U.S. manufacturers produce about 12.5 percent of our gross domestic product and employ about 9 percent of our workers – that translates into 12 million manufacturing jobs and nearly seven million related jobs, many of them in small businesses......."

Vice Chairman
Kevin Brady
Joint Economic Committee

See Vice Chairman Brady's Full Opening Statement