Accurately determining how much of our economy's total manufacturing production is American-made can be a daunting task. However, data from the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) can help shed light on what percentage of the manufacturing sector's gross output is considered domestic. This report works through several estimates of how to measure the domestic content of the U.S. gross output of manufactured goods, starting from the most basic estimates and working up to the more complex estimate, domestic content.

In 2014, President Obama set out an ambitious goal to double the number of apprenticeships to 750,000 by the end of 2018, and to diversify them as well. This year the half million mark was passed. However, despite their increasing popularity and proven benefit to workers, apprenticeships are not fully understood in the United States, especially from the point of view of U.S. employers. The skilled trades that support our nation’s construction industry still represent the core of American apprenticeships, but many other industries, like health care and information technology (IT), are adopting apprenticeships to create a skilled workforce for jobs they cannot otherwise fill easily, if at all. Along the way, firms are not only starting apprenticeships in new occupations and industries but also opening doors for women and minorities.

Ninth in a Series of Manufacturing Profiles: What is Made in America? These profiles are a follow-up to the ESA report "What is Made in America?" which estimates the dollar value and domestic-production percentage of what America produces.

Made In America: Primary Metal Products

In 2013, shipments from the U.S. manufacturing sector totaled $5.8 trillion. How much of these shipments do we make in the United States? This series of manufacturing profiles by the U.S. Commerce Department's Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) will answer that question one industry at a time. This ninth profile explores primary metal products. Previous profiles examined machinery; food, beverages and tobacco products; transportation equipment (excluding motor vehicles); chemicals; apparel, leather, and allied products; petroleum and coal products;  computer and electronic products; and fabricated metal products.