A report released by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), the “Economic Importance of U.S. the Shipbuilding and Repairing Industry,” considered the economic impact of the private shipbuilding and repair sector as a whole, including shipyards and industry suppliers, along with multiplier effects such as revenue at small businesses serving maritime workers and their families. All told, the report found, the industry supports more than 400,000 jobs across the country and generates $23.9 billion in income and $36 billion worth of goods and services each year.
More than 107,000 people work in the nation’s private shipyard building and repairing America’s military and commercial fleets. With shipyard-related jobs in every state in the union, workers in this sector earn about $8 billion and produce $9.8 billion worth of goods and services each year.
The report found that jobs in the shipyard industry paid $73,630 on average in 2011. That’s 45 percent more than the $50,786 national average for the private sector economy.
These jobs have a big effect on the wider economy. According to the study, each job in the private shipbuilding and repairing industry supports to another 2.7 jobs nationally. Each dollar of labor income in the shipyard sector leads to another $2.03 in labor income in other parts of the economy, and each dollar worth of goods and services leads to another $2.66 in the wider economy. In addition, men and women trained in America’s shipyard often go on to own local businesses in skilled trades, supporting their communities.
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