A new study released by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) and sponsored by the Motor & Equipment Suppliers Association (MEMA) underscores the importance of motor vehicle supplier jobs to the United States economy.
Motor vehicle suppliers directly and indirectly account for 4.5 million jobs nationwide, according to the survey. The are the largest employer in seven states, and are in the top five of employers in 12 more states.
"Suppliers to the vehicle manufacturers are not household names in our economy, but they employ significantly more men and women than the manufacturers and are, in reality, the invisible giant of the automotive industry," says Dr. David Cole, chairman of CAR. "Rarely are their facilities large and impressive landmarks, but in aggregate they employ several times the number of workers in motor vehicle manufacturer facilities."
According to the study, motor vehicle parts suppliers directly employ 783,100 domestic workers, and every supplier job creates another 4.7 jobs in the economy. These include:
* an additional 1.97 million jobs in industries ranging from steel to plastics that support the supplier industry; and
* 1.7 million jobs supported by the spending of direct and indirect employees.
Motor vehicle parts suppliers are the top employers in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee. Nine more states reported employment in excess of 15,000 jobs, including Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin.
The study also showed that the created jobs are good jobs, providing almost $253 billion in compensation, or more than $45,000 in average annual compensation for all 4.5 million jobs.
The study is available on CAR's website at www.cargroup.org. CAR is nonprofit organization that focuses on a wide variety of important trends and changes related to the automobile industry and society
at the international, federal, state and local levels.
