Apple Jobs Have Grown 20 Pct. Since 2017

Apple announced that it is responsible for 2.4 million U.S. jobs, a 20 percent boost from the 2 million the tech giant estimated in 2017.

The tech giant revealed that it directly employs 90,000 employees in all 50 states, and is on track to create 20,000 new jobs across the country by 2023. Earlier this year, Apple announced an expansion that will include 1,200 direct jobs, as well as a new campus featuring hundreds of thousands of square feet of office, lab and research space. In Seattle, Apple will add 2,000 new employees in highly skilled engineering positions.

The U.S. jobs that Apple supports are mainly in the app economy, which is currently responsible for 1.9 million American jobs — an increase of 325,000 in the last two and a half years. In fact, several states saw double-digit growth during that period, including a 43 percent increase in North Carolina, and a 50 percent increase in Florida.

Apple did not say how it arrived at its estimates, but the numbers have been released as the company has been criticized by the Trump administrations for contracting factories to assemble most of its products in China. Apple has defended itself by pointing out that it spent $60 billion on products and services from U.S.-based suppliers last year, with plans to increase that to $350 billion by 2023.

Earlier this week it was revealed that the tech giant’s AirPods, Apple Watch and HomePod are not included in a temporary reprieve on tariffs by the Trump administration. Instead, these products will get hit with a 10 percent tax on Sept 1. That could have a big impact on Apple, which faced disappointing sales for its latest iPhone. In fact, the iPhone contributed less than half of Apple’s revenue during its latest reported fiscal quarter.

The ongoing trade war between the United States and China could affect Apple’s annual earnings adversely, as well as cause the company to raise iPhone prices by around 10 percent, which could affect demand by 20 percent, or 10 million devices.