California: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for California's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 5.3 percent of California's total private-sector employment. Over one-fifth (21.9 percent) of all manufacturing workers in California depend on exports for their jobs. (2006 data are the latest available.)

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 2006 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: 2006.

Source: State Export-Related Employment Project, International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census.

Source: State Export-Related Employment Project, International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census.

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Exports Sustain Thousands of California Businesses

A total of 52,428 companies exported goods from California locations in 2006. Of those, 50,029 (95 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.

Small and medium-sized firms generated more than two-fifths (44 percent) of California's total exports of merchandise in 2006. This was the sixth highest percentage among the states, and was well above the 29 percent export share for SMEs nationally.

Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Exporter Database.

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Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in California

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 572,500 California workers, the most of any state. Major sources of foreign investment in California in 2006 were the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland, Germany and France.

Nearly one-quarter (23 percent), or 133,700 of these workers, were in the manufacturing sector in 2006.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 8.9 percent of total manufacturing employment in California in 2006.

Foreign investment in California was responsible for 4.3 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2006.

Note: All figures exclude employment in banks affiliated with foreign companies.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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California Depends on World Markets

California's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $134.3 billion, ranking California second only to Texas ($168.2 billion) among the states in terms of total exports in 2007.

California exported globally to 222 foreign destinations in 2007. California's largest export market was our NAFTA trading partner Mexico, with the state posting exports of $18.3 billion to Mexico in 2007. Mexico alone accounted for 14 percent of California's goods exports in 2007. Other top markets include our other NAFTA partner, Canada ($16.3 billion), Japan ($13.5 billion), China ($10.6 billion) and South Korea ($7.4 billion).

The state's leading export category in 2007 was computers and electronic products, which alone accounted for 33 percent, or $43.7 billion, of California's total merchandise exports. Other top exports were machinery manufactures (2007 exports of $14.5 billion), transportation equipment ($13.8 billion), and chemical manufactures ($10.4 billion).

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.

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California's Metropolitan Exports

Eight metropolitan areas in California exported over $1 billion in merchandise in the first half of 2007. The leading metropolitan area in exporting was Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana with $26.0 billion in merchandise exports in the first half of 2007. This area represented 38 percent of California's exports, and ranked as the third largest metro area exporter nationally. Other major metropolitan areas in California that exported in the first half of 2007 included San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara ($13.9 billion), San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont ($10.0 billion), San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos ($6.9 billion), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario ($2.3 billion), Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville ($1.7 billion), Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura ($1.2 billion), and El Centro ($1.1 billion).

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.

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