US International Trade Commission data informs that US fibre, textile, and apparel exports totalled nearly almost $28 billion in 2015. Exports of various textile raw materials and finished products included $4 billion in cotton and wool fibre; $4.9 billion in yarns; $9 billion in fabrics; $3.7 billion in made-up articles and finally $6.1 billion in apparel. This and other data was revealed by the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) to celebrate National Manufacturing Day held on October 7, in order to let Americans know about the textile industry’s comeback, investments and innovations. In other data, the US textile industry currently supplies roughly 8,000 unique textile items to America’s armed forces and the US military has spent an estimated $1.5 billion to $2 billion on textiles annually, during the past decade. Quoting statistics of the US Bureau of Labour Statistics and the US Department of Agriculture, NCTO further informed that the US textile and apparel industry supply chain employed an estimated 579,300 people in 2015. Of this number, 116,400 were involved in producing textiles such as yarns and fabrics; 116,400 in making textile products like carpets; 136,800 are manufacturing apparels; 25,600 in producing artificial and synthetic fibres and filaments, while 184,100 are working in producing cotton and wool fibres.
