Following last month’s news of 304,000 US jobs created in January, the Transportation Institute announced a 30% increase in domestic maritime job creation. According to the US maritime association, this was enabled by the Jones Act, thanks to which ‘the industry now employs nearly 650,000 Americans across all 50 states and contributes $154 billion to the nation’s economic growth annually‘.
The Jones Act guarantees that the transportation of merchandise between two US points is carried out by American– built, owned, and crewed vessels, promoting in this way, maintenance of the US maritime industrial base.
Mirroring unprecedented US job growth and enduring low unemployment rates seen in recent months, a newly released study published by PwC for the Transportation Institute affirms the impressive economic benefits of the domestic maritime industry.
Specifically, the report finds that the Jones Act-enabled maritime industry:
- Contributes more than $154 billion in total economic output annually
- Creates $41 billion in labor income for American workers each year
- Adds $72 billion annually to the value of US economic output
- Sustains nearly 650,000 American jobs, with one shipyard job creating four jobs elsewhere in the economy
This new study shows the spectacular impact that our industry has on our nation’s overall well-being, especially by providing livelihoods to 650,000 hard-working Americans, thousands of whom proudly served in our military,
…said James L. Henry, Chairman and President of the Transportation Institute.
The 40,000 vessels that comprise the Jones Act fleet move nearly one billion tons of cargo annually – or roughly a quarter of the nation’s freight – along US internal waterways, across the Great Lakes, and over the oceans to Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the US territories, the Institute said.
Shipped goods include a variety of products, from raw materials and commodities like coal and crude oil to consumer products that fill the shelves of grocery stores nationwide.
