Aggregate Scorecard Shows Significant Economic Benefits From U.S. Aggregates Industry


NEW PHOENIX CENTER INDUSTRY SCORECARD SHOWS SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC BENEFITS FROM U.S. AGGREGATES INDUSTRY

Aggregates Industry Contributes Nearly 600,000 Jobs Private Sector Jobs Each Year

Washington D.C. - March 10, 2017 -Natural aggregates—including crushed stone and sand and gravel—are a basic raw material used for residential, business, and government construction projects, as well as in agriculture, and chemical and metallurgical processes. To better understand the effect of the U.S. aggregates industry on the economy and jobs, the Phoenix Center released today a new economic "Scorecard" entitled The Economic Impact of the Natural Aggregates Industry: A National, State, and County Analysis. As the Phoenix Center's Scorecard demonstrates, the positive effects of the aggregates industry on the U.S. economy are substantial.

According to the Phoenix Center's Scorecard, quarries -- producers of the essential raw materials needed for any construction project -- are significant contributors to the economic wellbeing of the United States. The industry generates $27 billion in annual sales and employs 100,000 skilled workers earning above-average salaries. Additionally, the industry supports $122 billion in national sales, $32 billion in national earnings (i.e., wages) and between 364,000 and 600,000 jobs across a wide range of occupations and industries.

The Phoenix Center's Scorecard reveals that each job in the aggregates industry supports an additional 4.87 jobs throughout the economy. These jobs are widely spread across industries and occupations. Each dollar of earnings (i.e., wages) creates another $4.19 of earnings in other sectors, and each dollar of sales in the industry produces another $3.47 of sales in other industries. The effects of the aggregates industry are both large and diverse. Sizable effects on employment and output are found also at the state and county levels.

Finally, it is important to note that production in the aggregates industry is closely linked to the construction and maintenance of residential, commercial and government buildings, as well as transportation infrastructure including roads, highways, bridges, airports and railroads. Thus, according to the Phoenix Center's Scorecard, the growing calls to expand infrastructure spending to repair and expand the nation's crumbling infrastructure may portend even higher demand for the aggregates industry's outputs and, as such, will positively and materially impact jobs, earnings and sales in many sectors of the nation's economy.

A full copy of the Phoenix Center's INDUSTRY SCORECARD: The Economic Impact of the Natural Aggregates Industry: A National, State, and County Analysis (March 2017) may be downloaded free from the Phoenix Center's web page at: http://www.phoenix-center.org/scorecards/AggregatesIndustry2017ScorecardFinal.pdf. 

The Phoenix Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that studies broad public-policy issues related to governance, social and economic conditions, with a particular emphasis on the law and economics of the digital age. 

The aggregates industry—literally the foundation of our nation’s infrastructure—is a significant contributor to the economic wellbeing of the United States, generating $27 billion in annual sales and employing 100,000 mostly skilled workers. Impacts are felt throughout the broader economy. The industry supports $122 billion in national sales, $32 billion in national earnings (i.e., wages), and between 364,000 and 600,000 jobs across a wide range of occupations and industries.

National Impact of the Aggregates Industry page1image7792 page1image7952 page1image8112 page1image8272 page1image8432 page1image8592 page1image8752 page1image8912 page1image9072 page1image9232 page1image9392 page1image9552 page1image9712 page1image9872

                            Aggregate           Impact on  
                              Industry        Other Industries       Total Impact
Jobs (Quarry)         61,024                297,275                 358,317        
Jobs (Total)           102,000               496,740                 598,740
Earnings             $6.1 billion           $25.6 billion            $31.7 billion
Sales                  $27.2 billion          $94.4 billion            $121.6 billion

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Input-Output analysis reveals that each job in the aggregates industry supports an additional 4.87 jobs throughout the economy. These jobs are widely spread across industries and occupations. Each dollar of earnings (i.e., wages) creates another $4.19 of earnings in other sectors, and each dollar of sales in the industry produces another $3.47 of sales in other industries. The effect of the aggregates industry is both large and diverse. Sizable effects on employment and output are found also at the state and county levels. 

Production in the aggregates industry is closely linked to the construction and maintenance of residential, commercial, and government buildings, as well as transportation infrastructure including roads, highways, bridges, and railroads. In recent years, the aggregates industry has experienced higher growth in response to increased construction in residential housing. Proposals to expand infrastructure spending to repair and expand the nation’s crumbling infrastructure may portend even higher demand for the aggregates industry’s outputs. As demonstrated here, the growth of the aggregates industry will positively and materially impact jobs, earnings, and sales in many sectors of the nation’s economy.

 

Click here to view the score card. http://www.phoenix-center.org/scorecards/AggregatesIndustry2017ScorecardFinal.pdf