Report: Advanced industries help power US economy but face challenges ahead

A new report shows San Jose, California, Seattle and Wichita, Kansas, led the way with the highest percentage of its workforce employed in the so-called advanced industries sector.

The Brookings Institution said in a report Tuesday that the advanced industries sector is a key to the U.S. economy. It employs about 12.3 million workers and accounts for 60 percent of the nation's exports.

But the authors also argue that the public and private sector must work together to encourage technological innovation, expand the pipeline of skilled workers and foster growth in regional communities around such industries.

The sector includes 50 industries such as aerospace, oil and gas extraction and computer software design that invest heavily in research and development and whose workers have skills in science, technology, engineering and math.