AEM released a new report this week that shows more than 100,000 family-sustaining equipment manufacturing jobs can be created before the end of President Biden’s first term in office. According to the data by IHS Markit, these are high-skilled jobs in primarily rural areas that pay an average annual income of $88,000, which is 35% above the current national average.
The report was timely, as a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators are nearing a historic deal on infrastructure investment that would modernize our nation’s infrastructure, create jobs, and help revitalize American manufacturing.
“The new data shows that President Biden can fulfill his campaign promise by working with Congress to advance fiscally responsible legislation that addresses our country’s infrastructure needs, creates family-sustaining jobs, protects our planet, and grows our economy,” said Kip Eideberg, AEM senior vice president of government and industry relations. “It is time for policymakers on both sides of the aisle to put policy ahead of politics and pass the bipartisan infrastructure framework and secure a five-year surface transportation reauthorization as soon as possible.”
The report garnered significant media coverage, with an exclusive story in The Hill, in addition to coverage in POLITICO, CBS MoneyWatch, For Construction Pros, and on local news programs such as WLNS (CBS – Lansing, Mich.) It also caught the eye of White House staff, particularly President Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain and Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates, who shared it on social media.
“The bipartisan infrastructure framework agreed to by the White House and a group of Senators, coupled with a five-year surface transportation reauthorization, is vital for the 2.8 million men and women of the equipment manufacturing industry, for their families and communities, for the U.S. economy, and for bipartisanship in this country. The data shows that it would also create nearly 500,000 new manufacturing jobs overall, generate over $2 billion in new federal, state, and local tax revenue from the equipment manufacturing industry, and result in an additional $27 billion in overall economic output,” added Eideberg.
The IHS Markit methodology assumes new infrastructure spending will occur over eight years, beginning in 2022, with three quarters of the spending taking place during the first five years. Finally, it assumes that the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021 will pass in the fall of 2021 at a five-year total investment of $303 billion.
A significant long-term investment in our highways, water, energy, and communications infrastructure will bolster the economic recovery, create jobs, and ensure the United States is competitive over the long run. It will also generate much needed tax revenue for state and local governments still struggling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more about the report here.
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