Pennsylvania: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Pennsylvania Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 4.3 percent of Pennsylvania's total private-sector employment. One-sixth (16.8 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania Businesses

A total of 11,358 companies exported goods from Pennsylvania locations in 2006. Of those, 10,028 (88 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated 29 percent of Pennsylvania'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 Pennsylvania

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 249,000 workers in Pennsylvania, the fourth highest total among the 50 states. Major sources of Pennsylvania's jobs in 2006 were the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and France.

Nearly one-third of these jobs were in the manufacturing sector (31 percent, or 77,800 workers) in 2006. Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 11.5 percent, more than one-ninth, of total manufacturing employment in Pennsylvania in 2006.

Foreign investment in Pennsylvania was responsible for 4.8 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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Pennsylvania Depends on World Markets

Pennsylvania's export shipments of merchandise in 2008 totaled $34.4 billion. Pennsylvania posted the eleventh largest export total among the 50 states that year. Pennsylvania's $15.9 billion increase in exports from 2004 to 2008 was the ninth largest among the 50 states.

The state's top two markets that year were Canada and Mexico. The state shipped $10.3 billion worth of export merchandise to Canada in 2008 (30 percent of the state total) and $2.4 billion of goods to Mexico. Pennsylvania's other top markets in 2008 were Belgium (exports of $1.6 billion), China ($1.6 billion), and Japan ($1.5 billion).

The state's biggest manufactured export categories that year were chemical manufactures ($5.3 billion), machinery manufactures ($4.8 billion), primary metal manufactures ($4.2 billion), and transportation equipment ($4.1 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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Pennsylvania's Metropolitan Exports

In 2007, the metropolitan area of Pittsburgh exported $9.8 billion in merchandise, 28 percent of Pennsylvania's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Pennsylvania that exported in 2007 included York-Hanover ($2.0 billion), Harrisburg-Carlisle ($1.5 billion), Erie ($1.1 billion), Scranton-Wilkes-Barre ($1.1 billion), and Reading ($1.0 billion). Several major metropolitan area exporters include some counties in Pennsylvania. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (including some parts of New York and New Jersey) exported $80.9 billion, while Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington (including some parts of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland) exported $18.9 billion, Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton (including some parts of New Jersey) exported $2.4 billion, and Youngstown-Warren-Boardman (including some parts of Ohio) exported $1.4 billion in merchandise in 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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