Michigan: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Michigan's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 6.4 percent of Michigan's total private-sector employment. Nearly one-quarter (24.5 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Michigan 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 Michigan Businesses

A total of 10,373 companies exported goods from Michigan locations in 2006. Of those, 9,265 (89 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated 12 percent of Michigan'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 Michigan

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 195,500 Michigan workers. Major sources of Michigan's foreign investment in 2006 included Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France.

Nearly two-fifths of these jobs (39 percent, or 76,300 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2006.

More than one of every nine manufacturing workers (11.6 percent) were employed by foreign-controlled companies in 2006.

Foreign investment in Michigan was responsible for 5.2 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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Michigan Depends on World Markets

Michigan's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $44.6 billion, placing Michigan seventh among the states in this category. From 2003 to 2007, merchandise exports from Michigan increased $11.1 billion (33 percent), the 11th largest dollar growth in exports among the 50 states.

Michigan exported to 205 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest foreign market, by far, in 2007 was NAFTA member Canada, which received exports of $25.8 billion, or 58 percent of the Michigan total. Canada was followed by fellow NAFTA member Mexico ($5.2 billion), China ($1.3 billion), Japan ($1.3 billion), and Germany ($1.3 billion).

Michigan's leading export category, by far, is transportation equipment, which alone accounted for 52 percent, or $23.2 billion, of Michigan's exports in 2007. Other top export categories were machinery manufactures ($4.2 billion in 2007), chemical manufactures ($3.6 billion), and primary metal 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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Michigan's Metropolitan Exports

In the first half of 2007, the metropolitan area of Detroit-Warren-Livonia exported $24.3 billion in merchandise, 73 percent of Michigan's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Michigan that exported in the first half of 2007 included Grand Rapids-Wyoming ($1.4 billion), Holland-Grand Haven ($753 million), Ann Arbor ($622 million), Kalamazoo-Portage ($590 million), Saginaw-Saginaw Township North ($571 million), and Flint ($568 million). Another metropolitan area exporter that included some counties of Michigan was South Bend-Mishawaka (including some counties in Indiana as well) which exported $497 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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