North Carolina: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for North Carolina's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 5.4 percent of North Carolina's total private-sector employment. Over one-sixth (17.4 percent) of all manufacturing workers in North Carolina 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 North Carolina Businesses

A total of 7,076 companies exported goods from North Carolina locations in 2006. Of those, 86 percent, or 6,051 firms, were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated more than one-fifth (22 percent) of North Carolina'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 North Carolina

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 209,400 workers in North Carolina. Major sources of North Carolina's foreign investment in 2006 were the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, and Canada.

Over one-third (37 percent) of these jobs (77,200 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2006.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 13.8 percent, almost one-seventh, of total manufacturing employment in North Carolina in 2006.

Foreign investment in North Carolina was responsible for 6.1 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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North Carolina Depends on World Markets

North Carolina's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $23.4 billion. North Carolina was the 15th largest exporter among the 50 states in 2007. North Carolina's exports to the world increased by $7.1 billion from 2003 to 2007, the 16th largest dollar increase among the 50 states.

North Carolina exported to 208 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market that year was NAFTA member Canada, to which North Carolina exported goods worth $5.7 billion. This accounted for nearly one-fourth (24 percent) of the state's total exports that year. Canada was followed by Japan ($1.8 billion), China ($1.8 billion), Mexico ($1.7 billion), and France ($971 million).

North Carolina's leading manufactured export category is chemical manufactures, which alone accounted for $4.4 billion, or 19 percent, of the state's total export shipments in 2007. Other top manufactured exports from North Carolina that year were machinery manufactures ($3.2 billion), computers and electronic products ($2.7 billion), and transportation equipment ($2.0 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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North Carolina's Metropolitan Exports

In the first half of 2007, the metropolitan area of Greensboro-High Point exported $1.9 billion in merchandise, 17 percent of North Carolina's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in North Carolina that exported in the first half of 2007 included Durham ($1.2 billion), Raleigh-Cary ($1.1 billion), Winston-Salem ($868 million), and Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton ($596 million). Two major metropolitan area exporters in North Carolina included some counties from neighboring states. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord (including some parts of South Carolina) exported $2.0 billion, while Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News (including some parts of Virginia) exported $884 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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