December 2011
Exports Support Jobs for New Jersey Workers
Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 3.3 percent of New Jersey's total private-sector employment. Over one-sixth (17.3 percent) of all manufacturing workers in New Jersey depend on exports for their jobs (2009 data latest available).
Exports Sustain Thousands of New Jersey Businesses
A total of 15,512 companies exported from New Jersey locations in 2009. Of those, 14,406 (93 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
Small and medium-sized firms generated over two-fifths (43 percent) of New Jersey's total exports of merchandise in 2009.
Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in New Jersey
In 2009, foreign-controlled companies employed 226,400 New Jersey workers. Major sources of foreign investment in New Jersey in 2009 included the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, and Japan.
Foreign investment in New Jersey was responsible for 6.9 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2009.
New Jersey Depends on World Markets
New Jersey's export shipments of merchandise in 2010 totaled $32.2 billion.
The state's largest market was Canada. New Jersey posted merchandise exports of $6.3 billion to Canada in 2010, 19 percent of the state’s total merchandise exports. Canada was followed by the United Kingdom ($2.3 billion), Korea ($1.7 billion), Mexico ($1.5 billion), and Japan ($1.5 billion).
The state's largest merchandise export category is chemicals manufactures, which accounted for $7.9 billion of New Jersey's total merchandise exports in 2010. Other top merchandise exports are computers and electronic products ($3.4 billion), primary metals manufactures ($3.0 billion), transportation equipment ($2.7 billion), and machinery manufactures ($2.3 billion).
New Jersey's Metropolitan Exports
In 2009, the metropolitan area of Trenton-Ewing exported $623 million of New Jersey's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in New Jersey that exported in 2009 included Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton ($272 million), Atlantic City-Hammonton ($44 million), and Ocean City ($42 million). Several major metropolitan area exporters include some counties in New Jersey. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (including some parts of New York and Pennsylvania) exported $70.0 billion, while Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington (including some parts of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland) exported $19.1 billion, and Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton (including some parts of Pennsylvania) exported $2.6 billion in merchandise in 2009.
Exports Support Jobs
Note: Export-related employment data shown do not include manufacturing and non-manufacturing jobs involved in the export of non-manufactured goods, such as farm products, minerals, and services sold to foreign buyers. Indirect exports exclude imported items. The complete 2009 export-related employment series is available on our Export Related Jobs pages. Additional information on methodology used in the export-related employment series can be found in the U.S. Census Bureau's publication Exports from Manufacturing Establishments: 2009.
Source: State Export-Related Employment Project, International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census.
Exports Sustain Businesses
Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Exporter Database.
Foreign Investment
Note: All figures exclude employment in banks affiliated with foreign companies.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Trade with World Markets
Source: Revised Origin of Movement State Export Series, Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division.
Caution: The Origin of Movement series allocates exports to states based on transportation origin, i.e., the state from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a state should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement state export figures.
Metropolitan Exports
Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Metropolitan Export Series.
Caution: The Origin of Movement zip-based series allocates exports to metropolitan areas based on transportation origin, i.e., the metropolitan area from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a metropolitan area should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement zip-based export figures.
Prepared by the Office of Trade and Industry Information, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Data updated December 5, 2011.
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