In recent years, beauty product manufacturers have faced significant losses due to unfavorable economic conditions, including high inflation and increasing economic uncertainty. Many cosmetics and beauty products are considered discretionary, causing sales to weaken when disposable income drops. Heightened inflationary pressures in recent years pushed consumers to postpone purchases to downgrade to more affordable products, contributing to revenue losses between 2020 and 2022. Rising prices and heightened consumer uncertainty have led to higher selling prices and smaller basket sizes, protecting producers from sharper revenue losses. Since 2020, revenue has weakened by an estimated CAGR of 3.9% to reach $39.3 billion in 2025, including a 2.7% drop that year alone. During such times, consumers tend to opt for more affordable options, leading to a surge in imports to meet domestic demand. Imported beauty products have gained a larger share of the domestic market, especially those from countries like France, Italy and South Korea, which are perceived to offer higher quality. The growing demand for innovative, inclusive, sustainable and technical products—especially anti-aging and luxury items—creates growth opportunities for domestic manufacturers. Also, companies like Glossier, which leverages social media marketing and the heightened demand for US-made products, have successfully reached international consumers, driving an increase in exports. The ongoing economic recovery is expected to benefit domestic beauty product manufacturers. As consumer confidence and disposable income climb, spending on discretionary items like beauty products will likely increase, supporting manufacturers' performance. The forecast decline in the world price of zinc, a key material for manufacturers, will support producers' profit gains. Similarly, the expected depreciation of the US dollar will enhance the performance of domestic producers both domestically and internationally. However, uncertain trade conditions over the coming years will prevent downstream wholesalers and retailers from planning for future demand, preventing sharper gains. These factors are set to cause revenue to accelerate at an annualized 1.3% to $41.9 billion through the end of 2030.

In 2025, the United States had the largest economy in the world, with a gross domestic product of over 30 trillion U.S. dollars. China had the second largest economy, at around 19.23 trillion U.S. dollars. Recent adjustments in the list have seen Germany's economy overtake Japan's to become the third-largest in the world in 2023, while Brazil's economy moved ahead of Russia's in 2024. Global gross domestic product Global gross domestic product amounts to almost 110 trillion U.S. dollars, with the United States making up more than one-quarter of this figure alone. The 12 largest economies in the world include all Group of Seven (G7) economies, as well as the four largest BRICS economies. The U.S. has consistently had the world's largest economy since the interwar period, and while previous reports estimated it would be overtaken by China in the 2020s, more recent projections estimate the U.S. economy will remain the largest by a considerable margin going into the 2030s.The gross domestic product of a country is calculated by taking spending and trade into account, to show how much the country can produce in a certain amount of time, usually per year. It represents the value of all goods and services produced during that year. Those countries considered to have emerging or developing economies account for almost 60 percent of global gross domestic product, while advanced economies make up over 40 percent.

Abstract

The World Bank’s research project on “Distortions to Agricultural Incentives” has produced a core database of Nominal Rates of Assistance to producers, or NRAs, together with a set of Consumer Tax Equivalents, or CTEs, for farm products and a set of Relative Rates of Assistance to farmers in 75 focus countries. This is a detailed core database.

The vast majority of the world’s poorest households depend on farming for their livelihood. In the past their earnings were often depressed by pro-urban and anti-agricultural biases of their own country’s policies. While progress has been made over the past two decades by numerous developing countries in reducing those policy biases, many trade-reducing price distortions remain intersectorally as well as within the agricultural sector of low-, middle- and high-income countries.

This project, in seeking to understand the extent, effects of and reasons behind that transformation, began by compiling new estimates of price distortions over the past half century. National country studies were undertaken in more than 50 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe’s transition economies. They were supplemented with similar estimates and analytical narratives of policy trends in 20 high-income countries. Together those countries account for more than 90 percent of the value of global agricultural output.

The core database provides nominal rates of assistance estimates for the main individual commodities that together account for about 70 percent of the value of farm production in those countries, as well as guesstimates of the NRA for the 30 percent of farm production not covered. Also estimated is the NRA for non-agricultural tradables so as to compute a relative rate of assistance. Consumer tax equivalents are also provided for the covered products in each focus country, along with value of production and consumption at undistorted prices and of trade for each covered product and for non-covered farm products. The working paper no. 4612, available as external resources, serves as the "methodology paper" for this first database.

Kind of data

Aggregate data [agg]

Mode of data collection

Other [oth]

The Women's, Girls' and Infants' Apparel Manufacturing industry is in a state of long-term decline, as low levels of domestic product innovation and a falling number of industry operators have caused revenue to decrease over the five years to 2022. Largely as a result of overwhelming import competition, industry revenue is expected to fall an annualized 7.6% to $2.8 billion over the five years to 2022 as apparel production is moved overseas to low-cost manufacturers. Labor costs are significantly lower in developing countries and automation for apparel manufacturing is somewhat limited. As a result, most companies have moved overseas and domestic operators satisfy a relatively small portion of total demand; in 2022, imports are expected to account for 97.0% of domestic demand. Furthermore, revenue declines accelerated as domestic demand and international trade was constricted due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. As a result, industry revenue is expected to slightly decrease 0.5% in 2022, as the industry returns to normal production following historic lows.High import competition and increasing price pressures from the downstream retail sector has historically constrained industry profit. However, over the past five years, many operators have opted to expand their presences while many others decided to leave the industry. As a result, the number of industry operators is estimated to fall at an annualized rate of 6.3% to 4,471 companies over the five years to 2022, as industry employment fell. Given the intense price-based competition from imports produced in developing countries where labor costs are substantially lower, domestic industry operators are also increasingly opting to compete on the basis of quality, shifting their product mix from low-cost apparel to premium clothing.The industry is anticipated to experience modest growth over the five years to 2027 following the lows of 2020, with anticipated growth of an annualized 1.2% to $3.0 billion, aided by pent-up demand from the pandemic. As US economic conditions improve as business reopen, IBISWorld expects domestic demand for industry products to increase, and exports to grow strongly. However, import substitutes will likely still capture the majority of demand. IBISWorld expects industry profit to remain relatively stable as the industry increases its focus on manufacturing high-end products that can be sold at higher prices.

Office furniture producers have endured significant volatility in recent years. Macroeconomic instability in recent years—including spiking unemployment, jumping interest rates, rising office rental vacancies and the declining value of private nonresidential construction—contributed to revenue losses for most years since 2020. However, furniture producers experienced growth in 2022 and 2023, driven by weakening unemployment and a recovering nonresidential construction sector. During this time, producers also benefited from popular return-to-office trends, creating a need for new furniture. These factors have contributed to revenue growing at an estimated CAGR of 0.8% to $30.3 billion through the end of 2025, including a 0.5% drop that year alone. International trade trends directly impact producers as low-cost, mass-produced imports generate significant competition to domestic producers. This trend has pushed domestic producers to focus on custom furniture, which faces little competition from imports as a service-oriented product line. Imported pieces generate more than 20.0% of revenue. Producers in countries like China, Mexico and Vietnam leverage lower operating costs to offer lower prices, appealing to price-sensitive buyers and driving domestic price-based competition. Domestic producers have been negatively impacted by heightened import penetration and enhanced price-based competition, driving them to lower prices to remain competitive and placing downward pressure on profit. The US Government has aimed to support domestic producers through tariffs on major trading partners, most of which target China. Tariff hikes, including those in 2018, have contributed to Chinese producers losing traction domestically. However, tariffs on major inputs, like Canadian lumber, will push purchase costs upward, forcing manufacturers to raise prices or slash profit. Office furniture manufacturing will continue to grow as unemployment and office rental vacancies drop. Growth in the value of private nonresidential construction will support revenue growth as investments in furniture will come along with overall real estate investment. The expected depreciation of the US dollar is also likely to weaken imports as a share of domestic demand, as imported pieces become comparatively more expensive and domestic furniture becomes comparatively more affordable to international buyers, supporting domestic production. However, domestic producers will continue to face elevated uncertainty over the coming years, driven by the ongoing trade war and more expensive inputs, driving manufacturers to adapt their pricing strategies. Moving forward, revenue is set to rise at a CAGR of 1.8% to $33.1 billion.

There is indisputable evidence that increases in taxes that raise tobacco prices reduce tobacco use. Consumption taxes on manufactured tobacco products, however, can be regressive in socioeconomic status (e.g., when the ratio of tax paid to income is lower for higher-income groups than for lower-income groups). Nevertheless, if the poor or less educated are more price responsive, a change in tobacco tax may be progressive in socioeconomic status. Existing reviews clearly indicate that populations with lower income or education are more responsive to tobacco tax and price changes than higher-income and more educated populations in high-income countries. Research pertaining to low- and middle-income countries was, however, limited and inconclusive. We conducted a review of quantitative studies that examined if socioeconomic status modified the association between prices and taxes and tobacco use in low- and middle-income countries. We searched two electronic databases, two search engines, and two working paper repositories. At least two reviewers independently screened articles for inclusion, extracted detailed characteristics, and assessed the risk of bias of each included study. Thirty-two studies met our inclusion criteria. Overall, we found that the evidence in low- and middle-income countries was too limited and methodologically weak to make any conclusive statements. Our review highlights a number of data and methodological limitations in existing studies. The most important limitation was the lack of formal assessment of socioeconomic differences in price responsiveness. Only seven of 32 studies assessed statistically whether own-price effects were modified by socioeconomic status. Many modelling studies have examined the distributional effect of a tax increase on tobacco use, while assuming a strong own-price elasticity gradient in income. The poor were generally assumed to be more responsive to price by a factor of two to five, relative to the wealthy. Although there are theoretical reasons to expect poorer individuals to be more responsive to monetary prices than wealthy ones in low- and middle-income countries, our review provides little empirical support.

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Digital Manufacturing in Electrical and Electronics Market 2024-2028

The digital manufacturing in electrical and electronics market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 17.07% between 2023 and 2028. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 14.96 billion. The growth of the market depends on several factors, including the growing use of DM for improved traceability, the DM becoming an inevitable link in manufacturing, and the benefits associated with the adoption of DM. Global digital manufacturing (DM) in electrical and electronics market refers to the use of advanced digital technologies, such as robotics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing, in the manufacturing processes of electrical and electronic products.

The report includes a comprehensive outlook on the Digital Manufacturing in Electrical and Electronics Market, offering forecasts for the industry segmented by Technology, which comprises design-centric digital manufacturing tech., control-centric digital manufacturing tech., and management-centric digital manufacturing tech.. Additionally, it categorizes Type into solution and services, and covers Geography regions, including APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa. The report provides market size, historical data spanning from 2018 to 2022, and future projections, all presented in terms of value in USD billion for each of the mentioned segments.

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Digital Manufacturing in Electrical and Electronics Market Overview

Driver

The benefits associated with the adoption of DM are the key factor driving m market growth. DM helps to smoothen the flow of product and plant information during change processes without losing consistency in product design. Machining and tooling information and 3D information of the product can be viewed simultaneously via DM. The simulation features in DM help in the validation of robotics and automation programs. DM implements Six Sigma and other lean operation management more easily.

Moreover, DM makes the production process easier by providing real-time access to product lifecycle data. DM has a high ROI and quality. DM enhances standardization. DM helps the workforce to work in a safer and ergonomically designed plant. Consequently, the benefits associated with the adoption of DM will drive the growth of digital manufacturing in the electrical and electronics market during the forecast period.

Trends

Availability of cloud-based services is the primary trend shaping market growth. Market players are focusing on reducing the adoption cost of PLM, thereby leading to increased adoption of cloud-based PLM software. Many PLM service providers are implementing PLM on the cloud for end-users. Wipro, a global information technology, consulting, and outsourcing firm, is providing cloud-based PLM services for Siemens PLM Software's solution, Teamcenter.

Moreover, such services help electronics and semiconductor manufacturing companies deploy Teamcenter on the cloud through SaaS. It also helps end-users to reduce upfront costs for implementation and the total cost of ownership (TCO). Thus, the availability of cloud-based services will drive the growth of the digital manufacturing in electrical and electronics market during the forecast period.

Restrain

Low adoption of DM among SMEs is a challenge that affects market growth. SMEs provide jobs for a large number of people and greatly contribute to the national income in developing countries such as India and China. Though large companies use DM to make their manufacturing processes more efficient, the number of SMEs that have adopted DM is low.

Moreover, this is attributed to factors like the cost of the software and the reluctance of the vendors to accept new methods as they are skeptical about the outcome and ROI. Therefore, the low adoption of DM among SMEs will impede the growth of global digital manufacturing in the electrical and electronics market during the forecast period.

Digital Manufacturing in Electrical and Electronics Market Segmentation By Technology

The market share growth by the design-centric digital manufacturing tech. segment will be significant during the forecast period. The design-centric digital manufacturing technology segment focuses on providing advanced tools and solutions that enhance the design process of electrical and electronic products. This segment aims to streamline and improve the efficiency of product design, prototyping, and manufacturing through the use of digital technologies.

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The design-centric digital manufacturing tech. segment showed a gradual increase in the market share of USD 2.70

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Organic And Natural Feminine Care Market Size 2024-2028

The organic and natural feminine care market size is projected to increase by USD 1.28 billion at a CAGR of 7.64% between 2023 and 2028. The market's growth depends on several factors, including heightened awareness of hygiene and associated products, escalating environmental concerns regarding the use and disposal of plastic feminine care products, and increased government initiatives to promote menstrual hygiene in developing regions. These factors collectively drive the market's expansion, reflecting a shift towards sustainable and environmentally friendly feminine care solutions. The growing awareness of hygiene underscores the importance of safe and effective menstrual products, driving demand for eco-friendly alternatives. Furthermore, government initiatives play a crucial role in promoting menstrual hygiene practices, particularly in regions with limited access to such products. As these trends gain momentum, the market is poised for substantial growth, driven by the shift toward sustainable menstrual care solutions.

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Market Dynamic and Customer Landscape

The Market is gaining significant attention due to increasing health awareness and concerns regarding synthetic chemicals in scents, dyes, and menstrual products. Environmental issues and sustainability are key factors driving the demand for sustainable manufacturing techniques and biodegradable components. Nature-friendly alternatives, such as organic cotton, are preferred by consumers, particularly those with sensitive skin and concerns for their vaginal area. Brand names that prioritize these initiatives are increasingly influencing consumer purchasing decisions. Plastic waste, a pressing environmental concern, is also a significant issue in the industry. Reusable products, such as menstrual cups and cloth pads, are gaining popularity as sustainable alternatives to disposable sanitary pads and tampons. Cancer and chronic diseases have brought attention to the importance of using natural and organic products. Initiatives by nations to reduce the taboo of menstruation and promote women's health are further propelling the market growth. The shift towards organic and natural feminine care is a positive step towards a healthier and more sustainable future.

Key Market Driver - Growing awareness about hygiene and related products

The market comprises products such as menstrual pads, tampons, menstrual cups, and panty liners. Despite their long existence, proper use and hygiene practices have been under-discussed. However, with increasing awareness through campaigns and advertisements, the importance of good menstrual hygiene management is gaining recognition. In India, for instance, numerous organizations, businesses, and individuals observed Menstrual Hygiene Day in 2020. Sensitive skin users prefer unscented menstrual products, while specialized health stores offer top-tier options free from synthetic chemicals and toxins. Sustainability is a growing concern, with manufacturers adopting sustainable manufacturing methods and techniques to minimize environmental impact. The taboo surrounding menstruation persists, but traceability and uniformity in product quality are essential for consumer wellbeing, particularly for working women. These factors will fuel the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Significant Market Trends - Increasing rate of cervical cancer

The prevalence of cervical cancer is high in undeveloped and developing countries. Menstrual pads contain harmful ingredients such as rayon and dioxin. One of the main causes of cervical cancer is poor menstrual hygiene. The lack of hygiene can lead to fungal infections and reproductive tract infections (RTI) and increase the chances of infertility. Cervical cancer is mainly prevalent in rural areas of countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and India due to the use of rags and old clothes during menstruation.

The increasing awareness about cervical cancer and its prevention is fueling the adoption of natural and organic and natural feminine care products. These are made of breathable natural materials and contain no perfumes, dyes, plastic, or chlorine. This helps in avoiding contact with synthetic materials and skin irritants, thereby reducing the rate of infections and cervical cancer. Therefore, the increasing rate of cervical cancer is fueling the adoption of these products. These factors will boost the market growth during the forecast period.

Major Market Challenge - Presence of counterfeit products

The growing market opportunities have encouraged the entry of manufacturers of counterfeit organic and natural feminine care products, especially in developing countries. These are made of low-quality raw materials and have low durability. The

According to preliminary data, the agricultural sector contributed around 6.8 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) of China in 2024, whereas 36.5 percent of the economic value added originated from the industrial sector and 54.6 percent from the service sector, respectively. The total GDP of China at current prices amounted to approximately 134.91 trillion yuan in 2024. Economic development in China The gross domestic product (GDP) serves as a primary indicator to measure the economic performance of a country or a region. It is generally defined as the monetary value of all finished goods and services produced within a country in a specific period of time. It includes all of private and public spending, government spending, investments, and net exports which are calculated as total exports minus imports. In other words, GDP represents the size of the economy.With its national economy growing at an exceptional annual growth rate of above nine percent for three decades in succession, China had become the worlds’ second largest economy by 2010, surpassing all other economies but the United States. Even though China's GDP growth has cooled down in recent years, its economy still expanded at roughly two times the pace of the United States in 2024. Breakdown of GDP in China When compared to other developed countries, the proportions of agriculture and industry in China's GDP are significantly higher. Even though agriculture is a major industry in the United States, it only accounted for about one percent of the economy in 2023. While the service sector contributed to more than 70 percent of the economy in most developed countries, it's share was considerably lower in China. This was not only due to China's lower development level, but also to the country’s focus on manufacturing and export. However, as the future limitations of this growth model become more and more apparent, China is trying to shift it's economic focus to the high-tech and service sectors. Accordingly, growth rates of the service sector have been considerably higher than in industry and agriculture in the years before the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Milk Powder Manufacturing industry has faced challenging conditions in recent years. Domestic milk production has declined, reducing industry output and lifting milk prices. Unfavourable weather conditions, like flooding in 2022-23, and mandatory minimum farmgate milk price disclosure under the Dairy Industry Code of Conduct 2020 have further elevated prices. Supply-side pressures have driven manufacturers to sell almost all products overseas, with exports contributing significantly to revenue. Free trade agreements with countries like Indonesia and China have provided attractive tariffs, boosting foreign demand. Asia’s rising middle class has driven consumers to seek high-quality milk powder from premium dairy-producing countries, favouring Australian products like infant formula and adult milk powder. Although pandemic-induced stockpiling in China temporarily boosted exports, a stronger Australian dollar, along with sluggish economic conditions and low household income in China, has recently diminished export sales. Overall, industry revenue is expected to have fallen at an annualised 7.5% over the five years through 2024-25, to $768.2 million. This includes an anticipated 5.6% plunge in 2024-25 due to falling prices and production across product segments. The industry is in decline, set to grow slower than the economy over the 10 years through 2029-30. Major companies have optimised their milk powder production, slightly mitigating high operating costs. For example, Saputo shut down a production line, and Fonterra plans to sell multiple brands. However, meagre profitability has squeezed out many small-scale manufacturers, causing enterprise and establishment numbers to drop. Average wages have risen due to higher payments to skilled workers over the past few years. Yet manufacturers’ adoption of automated machinery has replaced manual workers, diminishing the industry’s employment and total wage costs. Revenue is projected to fall marginally over the coming years. The milk pool is forecast to shrink, constraining the output available to local and overseas markets. Growing New Zealand counterparts are set to capture unmet demand, shaking Australian manufacturers’ market position. The industry’s reputation will retain loyal customers, but a lack of innovation and value-added products is poised to fuel a marginal revenue decline. Overall, revenue is forecast to decrease at an annualised 0.9% over the five years through 2029-30, to $732.9 million.

In 2024, preliminary figures showed that the gross domestic product (GDP) from the manufacture of tobacco products in Indonesia was about ****** trillion Indonesian rupiah, showing an increase from the previous year. Tobacco is an important part of Indonesian life, and smoking is still prevalent in the Indonesian society. Where smoking is still the norm Indonesia is the second-largest market for cigarettes after China. Indonesian smokers spent between ** to over *** thousand Indonesian rupiah on cigarettes weekly, and spending on tobacco made up around **** percent of the total expenditure among Indonesian households. There have been several attempts at cutting tobacco consumption in the country. Several sub-national governments have adopted smoke-free regulations and partial tobacco advertising bans. At the national level, however, with the noted exception of the adoption of a ** percent pictorial on-pack health warning, no significant progress has been made. Indonesia remains one of the few countries that broadcasts cigarette advertisements on television, and its cigarette tax is amongst the lowest in the world. Indonesia's tobacco production In 2022, over *** thousand metric tons of tobacco were produced in Indonesia. Central and East Java, as well as West Nusa Tenggara, are the main centers of tobacco production Indonesia, with the tobacco industry being one of the main employers in some of these provinces. As such, proponents of the tobacco industry assert that tobacco control will deprive farmers and industry workers from earning a living. However, a study of smallholder tobacco farmers in Indonesia showed that tobacco farming is not profitable for the farmer, as most farmers remain relatively poor, and many suffer from numerous harmful diseases such as the green tobacco disease.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of California was about 4.1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2024, meaning that it contributed the most out of any state to the country’s GDP in that year. In contrast, Vermont had the lowest GDP in the United States, with 45.71 billion U.S. dollars. What is GDP? Gross domestic product, or GDP, is the total monetary value of all goods and services produced by an economy within a certain time period. GDP is used by economists to determine the economic health of an area, as well as to determine the size of the economy. GDP can be determined for countries, states and provinces, and metropolitan areas. While GDP is a good measure of the absolute size of a country's economy and economic activity, it does account for many other factors, making it a poor indicator for measuring the cost or standard of living in a country, or for making cross-country comparisons. GDP of the United States The United States has the largest gross domestic product in the world as of 2023, with China, Japan, Germany, and India rounding out the top five. The GDP of the United States has almost quadrupled since 1990, when it was about 5.9 trillion U.S. dollars, to about 25.46 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022.

The statistic shows gross domestic product (GDP) in Brazil from 1987 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. Gross domestic product denotes the aggregate value of all services and goods produced within a country in any given year. GDP is an important indicator of a country's economic power. In 2024, Brazil's gross domestic product amounted to around 2.17 trillion U.S. dollars. In comparison to the GDP of the other BRIC countries India, Russia and China, Brazil was ranked third that year. Brazil's national finances Brazil is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the largest amongst all Latin American countries. Brazil is also a member of multiple economic organizations such as the G20 as well as one of the four countries in the BRIC economies, which consist of Brazil, Russia, India and China. Despite having one of the lower populations out of the four countries, Brazil maintained a relatively stable dollar value of all goods and services produced within the country in comparison to India, for example. This indicates that unemployment is low and in general business demand within the country has become relatively high. Spending within the country has been relatively high, however is considered to be normal, especially for developing countries. It is expected that developing economies have a budget deficit of roughly 3 percent, primarily because spending is needed in order to fuel an economy at most times. However, most Brazilians still have faith in their country’s economic future and still believe that their own personal financial situation will improve along with the country’s economic position in the world.

Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is a measure of economic production, which takes the entire output of a national economy during a year and divides it by the population of that country. In the European Union, Luxembourg, Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Austria come out on top as the countries which produced the most per capita in 2024. Europe's richest countries benefit from multinational companies Many criticisms have been made of using GDP per capita as away to judge a country's economic wealth in recent years, as global capital flows have come to distort the statistics and to give a warped impression of different countries' wealth. This is most notably the case for Ireland and for Luxembourg, which while certainly high-income countries, have experienced dramatic booms in their GDP over the past two decades due to the accounting practices of the large multinational corporations which have their European headquarters in these member states, such as Facebook and Apple in Dublin, and Amazon in Luxembourg. Will the poorest countries converge towards the EU average? At the bottom of the list, two of the most recent member states of the EU, Romania and Bulgaria, come last in terms of GDP per capita. Whether these countries will be able to capitalize on their relatively low-wages to spur economic growth and experience the convergence towards the older member states of the union shown by countries such as Estonia, Czechia, and Lithuania, remains a pressing issue for these poorer member states.

In 2018, manufacturing labor costs in China were estimated to be **** U.S. dollars per hour. This is compared to an estimated **** U.S. dollars per hour in Mexico, and **** U.S. dollars in Vietnam. Manufacturing jobs in the United States Many people in the United States believe manufacturing jobs to be the backbone of the U.S. economy, despite employment in the manufacturing sector decreasing since 1997, and the monthly change in manufacturing employment being highly variable. Although manufacturing added a value of about ** percent to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018, employment in the United States has been moving away from manufacturing to other means of employment. A difference in earnings Part of this steering away from manufacturing could be due to a difference in labor costs. While hourly wages in Vietnam were less than * U.S. dollars in 2018, hourly wages in the U.S. manufacturing sector hovered around ** U.S. dollars in 2018. The labor costs in the U.S. could simply be too high for companies, who look to countries such as China, Mexico, and Vietnam for cheaper labor.