Minnesota: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Minnesota's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 5.3 percent of Minnesota's total private-sector employment. Over one-sixth (18.1 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Minnesota 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.

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Exports Sustain Thousands of Minnesota Businesses

A total of 5,755 companies exported goods from Minnesota locations in 2006. Of those, 5,009 (87 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated over one-sixth (18 percent) of Minnesota's total exports of merchandise in 2006.

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

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Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in Minnesota

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 86,500 workers in Minnesota. Major sources of Minnesota's foreign investment in 2006 included Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany.

More than one-fourth of these jobs (28 percent, or 24,600 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2006.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 7.1 percent, of total manufacturing employment in Minnesota in 2006.

Foreign investment in Minnesota was responsible for 3.6 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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Minnesota Depends on World Markets

Minnesota's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $18.1 billion, the 20th largest total among the 50 states, up 60 percent ($6.8 billion) from the 2003 total of $11.3 billion. Minnesota ranked 18th among the states in terms of dollar growth in exports from 2003 to 2007.

Minnesota exported to 204 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market in 2007, by far, was our NAFTA partner Canada, which received exports of $5.1 billion, or 28 percent of the 2007 total. Canada was followed by Ireland ($1.1 billion), China ($1.0 million), Japan ($935 million), and Germany ($788 million).

The state's largest export category is computers and electronic products, which alone accounted for 22 percent, or $4.0 billion, of Minnesota's exports in 2007. Other top export categories are machinery manufactures ($2.6 billion in 2007), transportation equipment ($2.2 billion), and miscellaneous manufactures ($2.1 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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Minnesota's Metropolitan Exports

In the first half of 2007, the metropolitan area of Rochester exported $444 million of Minnesota's merchandise exports. Another major metropolitan area in Minnesota that exported in the first half of 2007 was St. Cloud ($127 million). Several major metropolitan area exporters include some counties in Minnesota. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington (including some parts of Wisconsin) exported $10.0 billion, while La Crosse (including some parts of Wisconsin) exported $302 million, Duluth (including some parts of Wisconsin) exported $249 million, Fargo (including some parts of North Dakota) exported $244 million, and Grand Forks (including some parts of North Dakota) exported $113 million in merchandise in the first half of 2007.

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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