The industry added $25.7 billion in 2015 and employs 209,000. Each job within the industry supports 2.5 additional jobs elsewhere in the economy.

Nearly every product sold in this country is touched by a forklift in its lifetime, and a new report issued in June quantifies this manufacturing sector’s strong economic impact and employment rates. The report from the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) and Oxford Economics offers detailed data at national and state levels.

“Forklifts have been lifting America’s economy for over a century and we can now quantify our industry’s economic contributions to the overall U.S. economy,” said Brett Wood, CEO of Toyota Material Handling North America and chairman of ITA.

The report, entitled “Lifting America: The Economic Impact of Forklift Manufacturers, Dealers and Distributors,” includes several significant findings, such as:

• The industry’s economic contribution to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) was $25.7 billion in 2015.
• The industry’s activity supports a total of 209,000 U.S. jobs.
• Each job within the industry supports 2.5 additional jobs elsewhere in the U.S. economy.
• The industrial truck manufacturing industry workforce has a greater share of veterans compared to all other manufacturing as well as other industries.
• In 2015, the industry paid $5.3 billion to local, state and federal governments in taxes.
• Globally, more than 1 million industrial truck or forklift units are sold annually.
• In the U.S., Canada and Mexico, more than 230,000 units were sold in 2016.
• With over 200,000 units in the U.S. alone, more than 60% are electric

Read the full article in MHLNews.com here.