New Jersey: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for New Jersey Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 3.8 percent of New Jersey's total private-sector employment. Over one-sixth (17.4 percent) of all manufacturing workers in New Jersey 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 New Jersey Businesses

A total of 14,093 companies exported goods from New Jersey locations in 2006. Of those, 12,988 or 92 percent were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated more than one-third (38 percent) of New Jersey's total exports of merchandise in 2006, well above the national average of 29 percent.

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

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Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in New Jersey

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 230,500 workers in New Jersey, the seventh largest total among the 50 states. Major sources of New Jersey's jobs in 2006 were the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Germany, and Japan.

Nearly one-fourth of these jobs (22 percent, or 50,400 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2006, accounting for 15.4 percent of total manufacturing employment in New Jersey in 2006.

Foreign investment in New Jersey was responsible for 6.6 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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New Jersey Depends on World Markets

New Jersey's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $30.8 billion, the ninth largest among the 50 states. This is a $14.0 billion increase since 2003, the seventh largest dollar increase among the 50 states.

New Jersey exported globally to 216 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market in 2007 was NAFTA member Canada, which received goods exports of $6.6 billion (21 percent) of New Jersey's total exports that year. Canada was followed by the United Kingdom ($2.5 billion), Japan ($2.4 billion), Germany ($1.6 billion), and Mexico ($1.4 billion).

New Jersey's leading manufactured export category is chemical manufactures, which alone accounted for $7.9 billion, or 26 percent of New Jersey's total export shipments in 2007. Other top manufactured exports that year included primary metal manufactures ($4.0 billion), transportation equipment ($3.4 billion), and computers and electronic products ($3.2 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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New Jersey's Metropolitan Exports

In the first half of 2007, the metropolitan area of Trenton-Ewing exported $293 million of New Jersey's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in New Jersey that exported in the first half of 2007 included Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton ($108 million), Atlantic City ($29 million), and Ocean City ($15 million). Several major metropolitan area exporters include some counties in New Jersey. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (including some parts of New York and Pennsylvania) exported $39.7 billion, while Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington (including some parts of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland) exported $9.1 billion, and Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton (including some parts of Pennsylvania) exported $1.1 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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