Weekly Economic Trends and Indicators

Last week, we featured manufacturing employment in the Quad Cities area. This week, we continue our manufacturing month focus to highlight manufacturing’s overall contribution to the region’s economy. The table below summarizes gross domestic product (GDP) data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). One of the reports available from the BEA is the contribution of various sectors of the economy to total GDP for counties, metro areas, states, and the entire country.

Values for total GDP and manufacturing’s contribution to GDP in 2021 are reported in thousands of current dollars. The percentage of GDP accounted for by total manufacturing and both durable and nondurable goods manufacturing are in the right three columns. Manufacturing’s share of GDP is about 11 percent for the entire U.S. and about 19 percent in the six-county QC Chamber service area.

Recall that last week we pointed out that one out of every eleven jobs in the area is a manufacturing corporation. In terms of GDP, however, about one out of every five dollars of GDP comes from the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing jobs bring with them a variety of other jobs that all contribute to the creation of economic value. The spending that results supports the entire economy. All of us in the region are dependent on manufacturing whether it is in our job title or not.

In the past several decades, manufacturing’s share of GDP both nationally and locally has decreased. This has meant some adjustments for regions like ours that are dependent on the sector. However, in the last few years, these numbers have stabilized locally. The future of manufacturing is in the realm of advanced techniques such as additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping. The Quad Cities region is well-positioned in these areas which will carry forward manufacturing in the region for decades to come.

Next week: 3^rd Quarter US GDP