Manufacturing drove GDP growth in 2012

Commerce Department report finds durable goods jumped 9.1% last year

April 26, 2013

Manufacturing’s meteoric rise as the driver of the U.S. economic economy continued in 2012, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Gross domestic product in the U.S. rose 2.2% in 2012, driven primarily by a 6.2% increase in real value added from the manufacturing sector. “Durable-goods manufacturing, the largest contributor to overall growth in the economy for the third consecutive year, increased 9.1%, after increasing 6.8% in 2011 and 13.3% in 2010,” the report stated.

The manufacturing sector grew 4.7% in 2012 in terms of real GPD growth. That’s almost double the services sector growth rate of 2.4%.

The GDP has increase about 2% per year since 2010. In 20111, the manufacturing goods growth rate was just 0.8%, which dragged down the overall GDP growth to just 1.8%.

Other sectors contributed to the growth rate as well, as the overall economy continued to improve. There were 19 of the 22 industry groups showing growth. The finance and insurance industry sector posted its first growth in three years, rising 3.6%, while the wholesale trade group had its second straight year of solid growth, rising 4.8%.

Read the full report here