Wisconsin: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Wisconsin's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 6.8 percent of Wisconsin's total private-sector employment. Over one-sixth (18.4 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin Businesses

A total of 6,011 companies exported from Wisconsin locations in 2006. More than four-fifths of these companies (87 percent, or 5,205 companies) were small and medium-sized enterprises, with fewer than 500 employees.

Small and medium-sized firms generated more than one-fifth (23 percent) of Wisconsin'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 Wisconsin

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 87,200 workers in Wisconsin. In 2006, major sources of jobs in Wisconsin were the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, and Switzerland.

Over two-fifths of these jobs (43 percent, or 37,100 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2006. Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 7.2 percent of total manufacturing employment in Wisconsin in 2006.

Foreign investment in Wisconsin was responsible for 3.5 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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Wisconsin Depends on World Markets

Wisconsin's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $18.8 billion, up 63 percent from 2003, and above the 60 percent expansion in total U.S. exports of goods during this period. Wisconsin ranked 19th among the states in total export shipments in 2007.

Wisconsin exported to 209 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market, by far, is Canada. In 2007, Wisconsin posted exports of $5.9 billion to Canada, or 31 percent of the state's total export shipments. Canada was followed by Mexico ($1.5 billion), China ($1.2 billion), the United Kingdom ($723 million), and Germany ($660 million).

Wisconsin's biggest manufactured export categories in 2007 were machinery manufactures ($5.5 billion in exports); computers and electronic products ($3.0 billion); transportation equipment ($2.3 billion); electrical equipment, appliances, and parts ($1.0 billion); and processed foods ($1.0 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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Wisconsin's Metropolitan Exports

In the first half of 2007, the metropolitan area of Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis exported $3.8 billion in merchandise, 37 percent of Wisconsin's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Wisconsin that exported in the first half of 2007 included Madison ($816 million), and Racine ($806 million). Two major metropolitan area exporters include some counties in Wisconsin. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet (including some parts of Illinois and Indiana) exported $14.8 billion, while Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington (including some parts of Minnesota) exported $10.0 billion 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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