April jobs numbers are headlining the news today. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 165,000 jobs were created last month, reducing the unemployment rate to 7.5 percent, the lowest since December 2008. What most people may not have read about is the role the food and beverage industry played in the U.S. job growth. In a report issued by FoodAndBeveragePeople.com, 25 percent of the overall job growth was attributable to the food and beverage industry.

We’ve often blogged about the important role our industry plays in the U.S. economy. The non-alcoholic beverage industry alone has a direct economic impact of $141.22 billion, provides more than 233,000 jobs and helps to support hundreds of thousands more that depend, in part, on beverage sales for their livelihoods.

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