Oregon: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Oregon Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 7.6 percent of Oregon's total private-sector employment, the fifth highest figure among the 50 states. Over one-fifth (20.5 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Oregon 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 Oregon Businesses

A total of 4,190 companies exported goods from Oregon locations in 2006. Of those, 3,703 companies, or 88 percent, were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated over one-fourth (27 percent) of Oregon'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 Oregon

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 44,000 workers in Oregon. Major sources of Oregon's jobs in 2006 included Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland and France.

Over one-quarter (26 percent), or 11,600 workers of these workers, were in the manufacturing sector in 2006. Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 5.5 percent of total manufacturing employment in Oregon in 2006.

Foreign investment in Oregon was responsible for 3.0 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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Oregon Depends on World Markets

Oregon's export shipments of merchandise in 2008 totaled $19.4 billion, up 73 percent ($8.1 billion) from the $11.2 billion exported in 2004. That was the twelth largest dollar change among the 50 states over that time period.

The state's largest market that year was Canada, to which Oregon shipped goods worth $2.8 billion (14 percent of the state's total 2008 exports). Canada was followed by China ($2.5 billion), Japan ($2.0 billion), Malaysia ($2.0 billion), and South Korea ($1.3 billion).

Oregon's leading manufactured export category is computer and electronic products, which alone accounted for $8.0 billion, or 41 percent, of Oregon's total export shipments in 2008. Other top manufactured export sectors that year were machinery manufactures ($1.6 billion), transportation equipment ($1.5 billion), and chemical manufactures ($1.3 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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Oregon's Metropolitan Exports

In 2007, the metropolitan area of Eugene-Springfield exported $909 million in merchandise, 6 percent of Oregon's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Oregon that exported in 2007 included Corvallis ($352 million), and Salem ($285 million). A major metropolitan area exporter that included some counties of Oregon was Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton (including some counties in Washington as well) which exported $15.8 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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