The Thread That Connects Us All

That simple branded t-shirt in your closet tells a powerful economic story that goes far beyond its $28 price tag. While manufacturing jobs have declined in America, a robust ecosystem of logistics, retail, and business services have grown—transforming our economy while keeping goods flowing to consumers.

Until the 1970s, The New York Harbor was one of the largest in the world. Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports collectively tower over it now, full of these hypothetical t-shirts, or a litany of other goods from the world over. As focus goes to where it’s made, or what container it arrived on, little has been said of the value added to that invoice. A great value many of us partake in today.

Breaking Down the $28*

When a consumer purchases a branded t-shirt, here's where their money actually goes:

Cost of Sales: $15.30 (54.6%)

• Production costs: $4.00
  That Bangladesh or Vietnam-made shirt represents just 14.3% of the total cost. While this production has largely moved offshore, it's opened the door for higher-value American jobs.

• Transport and logistics: $3.50
  This is where my industry comes in—complex networks of ships, trucks, trains, warehouses, and technology systems that connect global production to local consumers.

• Import duties and compliance: $1.80
  Customs brokers, compliance specialists, and government agencies all play a role.

• Warehousing and distribution: $3.00
  The infrastructure that receives, stores, processes and ships products to retailers.

• Other direct costs: $3.00
  Quality control, inventory management, and other operational necessities.

Selling & Administrative: $9.77 (34.9%)

• Marketing and demand creation: $4.37
  The creative agencies, digital marketers, and media specialists who build brand value.
  

  

  Retail operations: $3.40
  Store staff, rent, utilities, and technology that create the shopping experience.

• Corporate overhead: $2.00
  The business services keeping everything running behind the scenes.

Operating Profit: $2.93 (10.5%)

• Taxes: $0.58
  Government revenue supporting infrastructure and services.

• Net Income: $2.35
  What actually returns to the company and ultimately shareholders. ….and 401ks
  
  

  

* This breakdown was made using a top U.S. brand’s Q1 2025 income statement for reflective representations of costs

The Bigger Economic Picture

What's remarkable is how this global system has restructured our economy [1], creating new opportunities as traditional manufacturing declined:

Transportation & Warehousing: 5% of U.S. GDP, 6.6 Million Jobs

Transportation and warehousing now accounts for a full 5% of all private-sector jobs in America. The industry has experienced a 48% growth since 2001, with particular expansion in warehousing & storage (27% of the sector), truck transportation (24%), and courier services (16%).

This sector has been one of the most resilient in recent years, growing by 15.1% since 2019 despite global disruptions. The transformation of the Inland Empire in Southern California illustrates this shift perfectly—over 1 billion square feet of warehouse space now supports the flow of imported goods through the ports of LA and Long Beach.

The t-shirt industry alone contributes approximately $6.50 (23.2%) of our example shirt's value to this sector.

Retail Trade: 6.2% of U.S. GDP, 15.8 Million Jobs

Retail trade employs about 10.5% of the American workforce. While the sector has faced significant disruption from e-commerce, clothing retail remains a major employer with approximately 1.2 million jobs directly tied to apparel sales. Retail operations account for $3.40 (12.1%) of our t-shirt's value.

What's often overlooked is how the retail sector has evolved to integrate with logistics networks. Many retailers now operate sophisticated omnichannel distribution systems, blending traditional stores with e-commerce fulfillment, thereby creating higher-skilled retail jobs.

Professional & Business Services: 12.6% of U.S. GDP, 22.5 Million Jobs

This sector represents one of the highest-value segments of the American economy and has seen steady growth of 2.1% even through recent economic challenges. The marketing, design, IT, consulting, and administrative functions supporting apparel brands contribute $6.37 (22.8%) to our t-shirt's value.

Manufacturing Comparison: 10.8% of U.S. GDP, 12.9 Million Jobs

While domestic manufacturing employment has declined by 24% since 2001, it still represents a significant portion of our economy. However, the ratio of manufacturing to transportation jobs has shifted dramatically from 3:1 in 2001 to closer to 2:1 today.

The manufacturing component of our t-shirt ($4.00 or 14.3% of its value) may now happen overseas, but the economic activity it generates domestically through the other sectors arguably creates more value for American workers than if the entire supply chain remained domestic.

Why This Matters

As logistics professionals, we don't just move boxes—we're the connective tissue of the global economy. While manufacturing jobs have undeniably decreased in many regions, the transportation, warehousing, and business services sectors have expanded to support international trade.

For every $28 t-shirt:

• About $13.27 (47.4%) directly supports American jobs in logistics, retail, and business services

• Approximately $4.00 (14.3%) goes to overseas manufacturing

• The remainder covers materials, duties, taxes, and corporate profits

There’s no sugar coating manufacturing's decline. Yet, we should also recognize how global trade has transformed our economy too—creating NEW and different jobs in the process. To run headfirst into a cliche, there are always trade-offs.

The next time you put on that t-shirt, remember: while it might have been sewn overseas, getting it to you supported jobs for millions of Americans across multiple sectors of our economy. That's a thread worth following.

Economic data sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024-2025) and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024-2025).

1 César Ducruet, Dimitris Tsiotas, Bruno Marnot, Barbara Polo Martin, Hidekazu Itoh, et al.. Struc tural change in the world maritime network (1880-2020): globalization, optimization, and vulnerabil ity. 2025. ￿hal-05000113￿