Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Will Contribute To Significant Manufacturing Job Growth
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), approved by the Congress in 2021 and supported by the Metals Service Center Institute, and two other major laws approved by federal lawmakers in recent years will result in increased U.S. employment.
According to a new report from the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, the combined investments included in the BIL, along with the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS) and another federal law, will support nearly three million jobs annually. This represents a major expansion in overall job opportunities throughout the U.S. economy, equal to nearly two percent of the current U.S. workforce.
The report looked at three subjects: job quantity, job access, and job quality. Here are the results:
- Job Quantity: As noted above, these federal laws will create nearly three million jobs annually. The construction, transportation, manufacturing, and utilities sectors are expected to see the highest job growth.
- Job Access: A significant share of jobs created by these investments are within reach for workers without a college degree, meaning they will create opportunities for low-income and blue-collar workers to access training opportunities and move into the middle class.
- Job Quality: The jobs created by these federal investments will pay higher median wages on average than jobs in the U.S. workforce overall, making them a lever to help alleviate income inequality.
Read the report here.