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Activities of U.S. Multinational Enterprises, 2018

August 21, 2020

Worldwide employment by U.S. multinational enterprises (MNEs) increased 1.4 percent to 43.0 million workers in 2018 from 42.4 million in 2017.
 

Employment of U.S. Parents Aug21

Highlights of the statistics on employment by U.S. parents in 2018:

  • Employment in the United States by U.S. parents increased 2.1 percent to 28.6 million workers in 2018. U.S. parents accounted for 66.5 percent of worldwide employment by U.S. MNEs, up from 66.1 percent in 2017.
  • U.S. parents accounted for 22.0 percent of total private industry employment in the United States.
  • The manufacturing industry accounted for the largest share of employment by U.S. parents (26.2 percent), followed by retail trade (20.6 percent). The “other industries” category, which includes accommodation and food services and transportation and warehousing, accounted for 22.0 percent of U.S. parent employment.

Highlights of the statistics on employment by majority-owned foreign affiliates (MOFAs) in 2018:

  • Employment abroad by MOFAs of U.S. MNEs was nearly unchanged at 14.4 million workers and accounted for 33.5 percent of employment by U.S. MNEs worldwide.
  • Employment abroad by MOFAs was largest in China, the United Kingdom, Mexico, India, and Canada.
  • In China, employment by MOFAs was largest in manufacturing and accommodation and food services. In Mexico, employment was largest in manufacturing, and in India it was largest in professional, scientific, and technical services. Employment by MOFAs in the United Kingdom and Canada was spread across many industries.
Employment of Majority-Owned Affiliates Aug21

Other highlights of the statistics on the activities of U.S. multinational enterprises in 2018:

  • Worldwide current-dollar value added of U.S. MNEs increased 6.8 percent to $5.7 trillion. Value added by U.S. parents increased by 7.8 percent to $4.2 trillion, representing 23.3 percent of total U.S. private-industry value added. MOFA value added increased to $1.5 trillion.
  • Worldwide expenditures for property, plant, and equipment of U.S. MNEs increased 6.6 percent to $912.1 billion.
  • Worldwide research and development expenditures of U.S. MNEs increased 6.9 percent to $381.4 billion.

For more information, read the full report.