Nearly 4.5 Million Jobs Supported By $553 Billion U.S. Chemical Industry

Dr. Kevin Swift, chief economist at ACC.

America’s
chemical industry is a $553 billion enterprise directly providing more than
half a million high-paying jobs across the United States, according to
the 2019 edition of the Guide to the Business of Chemistry, released last week. Each one of these jobs
helps create others, almost 4.5 million in fact.

Prepared
annually by ACC’s Economics and Statistics Department, the Guide highlights chemistry’s significant contributions to the U.S.
and world economies. It divides the business into more than 30 categories of production,
highlighting distinct features such as growth dynamics, markets, and new
developments.

Individual
sections provide detailed information about important topics including
financial performance, U.S. and global trade, innovation, capital investment,
employment, environmental and safety statistics, energy, and distribution.

Key findings include:

  • American
    chemistry is the second-largest chemical producer by country, providing nearly
    14 percent of the world’s chemicals
  • We
    account for 10 percent of all U.S. good exports, $140 billion annually, and we
    are among the nation’s largest exporters
  • We
    provide 542,000 skilled, good-paying American jobs
  • For
    every job created by the business of chemistry, 7.2 are generated elsewhere in
    the economy, totaling more than 4.4 million jobs
  • We
    invested nearly $10 billion in R&D in 2018

American chemistry remains in demand across the world, despite trade tensions. The U.S. chemical industry produces a large and growing trade surplus, reaching $31 billion in 2018. Free trade and open markets are essential to growth and job creation in the industry, and they provide significant benefits to the broader economy.

The chemistry industry’s contributions extend to the benefits
provided by its products. A driver of innovation, we provide the materials necessary to
make life healthy, safe and comfortable – contributing to a higher standard of
living for people in our country and around the world. Solutions
from our industry
are needed to provide a safe and plentiful food supply,
clean air and water, safe living conditions, efficient and affordable energy,
and life-saving medical treatments.

The Guide to the Business of Chemistry is available to ACC members at
no cost and to non-members for $750. To order or download an electronic
version, click
here
. If you would like to order a bound,
printed version, click here. Orders may also be placed by calling
the ACC store: (301) 617-7824.

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