US apparel and footwear manufacturing increases in 2012
08/01/2014
However, 97.5% of apparel sold in the US is still made internationally, as well as 98% of shoes.
While apparel consumption by volume declined slightly in 2012, the value grew by 4.8% to $282.2 billion as retail prices increased to take account of higher supply chain costs, including increases in materials, labour and transportation.
China was biggest market for US cotton exports, the second-biggest market for US yarn exports and the third for US fabric exports.
"While reshoring efforts are making a measurable impact in the apparel and footwear industry, the vast majority of products are still made outside our borders," said AAFA president Kevin Burke.
Other findings in the organisation’s ApparelStats and ShoeStats reports for 2012 include: US apparel employment grew by 0.8% to 2.91 million workers; on average, every man, woman and child spent $898 to purchase 62 garments; US footwear consumption dropped 0.6% by volume but rose 4.9% in value to a record $72.4 billion; and Americans, on average, spent $230 on seven pairs of shoes during the year.
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