Which Industry Added Half A Million Jobs To The American Economy?

Unemployment in America peaked 3 years ago, at the height of the subprime housing crisis which slowly spread across the financial markets across the world. While the labour situation has since improved, unemployment remains high. But one industry darling has added almost half a million jobs to the American economy.  

You’ve probably heard of the iEconomy, but have you heard of the App Economy?

Unemployment in America peaked 3 years ago, at the height of the subprime housing crisis which slowly spread across the financial markets across the world. While the labour situation has since improved, unemployment remains high. But one industry darling has added almost half a million jobs to the American economy.  

You’ve probably heard of the iEconomy, but have you heard of the App Economy?

According to a new report by former Business Week chief Economist Michael Mandel, the App Economy added 466,000 jobs in the United States in the last five years, and indicators are pointing towards continued growth of the industry. This is equivalent almost 100,000 jobs per year, or over 250 jobs per day.

What exactly is the App Economy? The report defines the App Economy as a collection of interlocking innovative ecosystems where each ecosystem consists of a core company, which creates and maintains a platform and app marketplace (Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows).

With over a million apps available on app marketplaces, Mandel argues that each app represents jobs on every level and scale, from programmers, to designers, to marketers, with potential “spillovers to the rest of the economy”.

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Bullish that the industry has the potential for enormous growth, Mandel wrote:  

[quote] How can the U.S. dig itself out of the current job drought? Government policy can temporarily boost employment. The ultimate answer, though, is innovation: The creation of new goods and services that spur the growth of new industries capable of employing tens or hundreds of thousands of workers. [/quote]

In terms of revenue, the App Economy has generated almost $20 billion in revenue in 2011. TechNet’s President and CEO Rey Ramsey, commissioner of the report, said:

[quote] America’s App Economy – which had zero jobs just 5 years ago before the iPhone was introduced – demonstrates that we can quickly create economic value and jobs through cutting-edge innovation. Today, the App Economy is creating jobs in every part of America, employing hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers today and even more in the years to come. [/quote]

Where is the App Economy headquarters in America? According to Mandel’s analysis, almost a quarter of all jobs can be found in California, particularly Silicon Valley, home to companies like Apple, Google, Facebook and pure-app company Zynga. 

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