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New Report Details the Economic Impact of US Forest Products Industry

New Report Details the Economic Impact of US Forest Products Industry

Forest2Market recently completed an economic impact study for the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO), which quantifies the contribution that forestry-related industries make to state, regional and national economies, and analyzes the most forested regions of the United States based on the most recent year of data available (2016). The following map identifies the regions that were the subject of the study.

 NAFO_Map_2019

 

Economic Impact of Working Forests: Employment & Payroll

Direct employment refers to the number of full- and part-time jobs at forestry-related businesses. Direct payroll refers to the payroll contributions associated with direct employment. Forestry-related businesses support over 1 million direct jobs, which are associated with over $55.4 billion in direct payroll.

In addition to direct employment and payroll, forestry-related businesses create further employment opportunities via both indirect and induced impacts.

  • Indirect impacts are the production, employment and income changes occurring in other businesses that supply inputs to the industry under consideration.
  • Induced impacts are the effects of spending by households as the result of direct and indirect effects. The induced effects arise when direct employees spend their income in the community.

The combined effect of direct, indirect and induced impacts is referred to as total employment and total payroll. Forestry-related businesses support 2.9 million total jobs and are associated with $128.1 billion in total payroll.

Including direct, indirect and induced employment, forestry-related businesses support over 1.3 million jobs in the South, 593,700 jobs in the Midwest, 428,600 jobs in the Pacific Northwest, 423,600 jobs in Appalachia and 142,500 jobs in the Northeast. Over 45% of the direct, indirect and induced jobs in the study area are attributable to the South.

Private timberland supports around 1.25 million jobs in the South, 449,600 jobs in the Midwest, 339,100 jobs in Appalachia, 341,700 jobs in the Pacific Northwest and 110,000 jobs in the Northeast.

 

NAFO_Economic_1

Total payroll in forestry-related businesses is $55.0 billion in the South, $27.5 billion in the Midwest, $20.0 billion in the Pacific Northwest, $18.9 billion in Appalachia and $6.6 billion in the Northeast. Total payroll contributions attributable to private timberland are $52.4 billion in the South, $20.9 billion in the Midwest, $15.0 billion in Appalachia, $16.0 billion in the Pacific Northwest and $5.1 billion in the Northeast.

 NAFO_Economic_2

 

Economic Impact of Working Forests: Contribution to GDP

GDP associated with paper, wood and furniture manufacturing industries totals nearly $107.5 billion. Nationally, paper, wood and furniture manufacturing industries are 5.7% of total manufacturing GDP, and approximately $92.0 billion of forestry-related businesses’ contribution to GDP is associated with private timberland. Private timberland is associated with approximately 5.2% of manufacturing GDP.

NAFO_Economic_3

In the South, forest products manufacturing industries contributed over $5 billion to GDP in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas. Forest products manufacturing companies in Oklahoma and Missouri contributed the least to GDP in the South at $1.1 and $2.2 billion, respectively. Forest products manufacturing represented the largest share of total manufacturing GDP in Arkansas (16.7%), Mississippi (14.9%), Alabama (13.6%), Georgia (11.8%) and South Carolina (10.5%). Forest products manufacturing was over 2% of a state’s total GDP output in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama.

In Appalachia, Pennsylvania has the highest forest products manufacturing contribution to GDP at $7.0 billion, which is 8.2% of Pennsylvania’s manufacturing GDP and 1.0% of total state GDP. Maryland forest products manufacturing companies contribute the least to state GDP at $820 million, which is 3.8% of manufacturing GDP and 0.2% of total state GDP.

In the Northeast, New York’s forest products manufacturing companies contribute just under $3.7 billion to the state’s GDP, which is the highest in this region. However, as a share of state manufacturing and total GDP, Maine’s $1.2 billion contribution represents 20.4% of the state’s manufacturing GDP and 2.0% of total GDP. New Hampshire forest products companies contribute the least to their state’s GDP at $309 million annually (3.4% of manufacturing GDP and 0.4% of state GDP).

In the Northwest, forest products manufacturing companies in California contribute $7.3 billion to GDP, which is 2.5% of state manufacturing GDP and only 0.3% of total state GDP. Oregon and Washington companies contribute around $3 billion each to their states’ GDP, and forest products manufacturing is 6.8% and 5.0% of total manufacturing GDP, respectively. Montana forest products companies contribute the least to GDP in terms of dollar output at only $348 million, but this is 12.2% of Montana’s manufacturing GDP, the highest share in this region.

In the Midwest, Wisconsin forest products manufacturing companies contribute nearly $6.9 billion (2.2%) to their state’s GDP, and forest products represent 12.0% of state manufacturing GDP. Minnesota companies contribute $3.6 billion to their state’s GDP, the lowest in the region. Illinois forest products manufacturing at $3.9 billion represents only 0.5% of the state’s GDP.

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