October 2 is Manufacturing Day, and I’m pleased to participate in this year’s observance by recognizing the major role that manufacturing plays in our national and global economy. Every year, U.S. manufacturers produce nearly $6 trillion in shipments and employ people across the nation. Modern manufacturing is a technology-driven industry that produces innovative ideas and products that are used across the globe.

A major source of statistics on our nation’s manufacturing is the Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM), which provides sample estimates of statistics for manufacturing establishments with one or more paid employees.  Earlier this year, we released statistics from the 2013 ASM for 364 manufacturing industries.  We also released less detailed industry statistics by state in the 2013 ASM.

ASM data tell us a lot about American manufacturing. For example, nationally, there were 11.1 million manufacturing employees, annual payroll of $602.9 billion, and value of shipments and receipts for services of $5.8 trillion. The three states with the most manufacturing employees in 2013 were California, Texas and Ohio. California topped the list with 1.1 million manufacturing employees. The data also show that California’s annual payroll for paid employees was $70.1 billion, and the value of shipments and receipts was $524.5 billion.

In addition to the ASM, the Census Bureau releases a broad range of information relating to American manufacturing from the Economic Census, which provides additional detail on the number of manufacturing establishments, employment, payroll, receipts, value of shipments, expenses, assets and a host of other topics on 364 manufacturing industries.

Census Bureau statistics on the manufacturing sector help manufacturers learn about their industries and communities and grow their businesses. You can check out the Census Bureau’s monthly manufacturing indicators – and a host of other measures of economic activity – by downloading our America’s Economy app to your mobile device.