December 2011
Exports Support Jobs for Rhode Island's Workers
Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 2.7 percent of Rhode Island's total private-sector employment. Over one-seventh (15.1 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Rhode Island depend on exports for their jobs (2009 data latest available).
Exports Sustain More Than One Thousand Rhode Island Businesses
A total of 1,435 companies exported from Rhode Island locations in 2009. Of those, 1,284 (89 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
Small and medium-sized firms generated nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of Rhode Island's total exports of merchandise in 2009.
Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in Rhode Island
In 2009, foreign-controlled companies employed 23,800 Rhode Island workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Rhode Island in 2009 included the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, and Japan.
Foreign investment in Rhode Island was responsible for 5.9 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2009.
Rhode Island Depends on World Markets
Rhode Island's export shipments of merchandise in 2010 totaled $1.9 billion.
The state's largest market was Canada. Rhode Island posted merchandise exports of $591 million to Canada in 2010, 30 percent of the state’s total merchandise exports. Canada was followed by Mexico ($136 million), Germany ($118 million), Turkey ($86 million), and China ($78 million).
The state's largest merchandise export category is waste and scrap, which accounted for $529 million of Rhode Island's total merchandise exports in 2010. Other top merchandise exports are chemicals manufactures ($222 million), miscellaneous manufactures ($217 million), computers and electronic products ($173 million), and machinery manufactures ($166 million).
Rhode Island's Metropolitan Exports
The metropolitan area of Providence-New Bedford-Fall River exported $5.4 billion in merchandise in 2009. This is the only metropolitan area with counties in Rhode Island, and it also includes some counties in Massachusetts.
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.
Click here to return to the list of all the state "Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment" reports.