More than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold for Valentine’s Day, according to the National Confectioners Association (NCA).  And that means big bucks for the candy industry.

In fact, Valentine’s sales this year are estimated at $935 million, up from $928 million last year, the trade group recently told Bloomberg.  Not bad considering the country is in a recession.

But candy has proven to be one of the few recession-proof industries, with the NCA boasting in 2008 of 35% profit margins.

Just weeks ago, one of the best-known chocolate makers, The Hershey Company, delivered more good news to its investors—income was up 40% from the previous year.

“During 2009 Hershey made excellent progress in its consumer-driven approach to core brand investment while implementing significant but necessary price increases,” David J. West, Hershey’s president and chief executive officer, said of the good news.

So profits are up, but what about that rhetoric of the U.S. candy industry shrinking in size?  Just the opposite, says former USDA official Peter Buzzanell.

He reported in a 2009 study about the confection industry, “There are a number of signs that the U.S. candy company flight to other countries has run its course and that the trend of job loss may be reversing itself.”

Among the examples he cites:  The Sconza confectionery company is opening a new operation in Oakland, CA.; Tierra Nueva cocoa and chocolate company is opening a new plant in Miami; and Nestle plans to construct a nearly 900,000 square-foot plant and will invest $529 million over five years at its Anderson, IN, multiproduct facility.

This is translating to continued job growth.  According to Dept. of Commerce jobs data, the confectionery industry saw 12% job growth in 2007 (the most recent industry jobs data available).

With all this good news, it kinda makes you question candy company claims that U.S. sugar prices are harming their finances and driving jobs overseas. Especially when you consider that food companies in other developed countries pay more for sugar than their U.S. counterparts, according to commodity research firm LMC International Ltd.