Connecticut: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Connecticut's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 6.5 percent of Connecticut's total private-sector employment. Nearly one-third (30.8 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Connecticut depend on exports for their jobs, the second largest share among the 50 states. (2005 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 2005 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: 2003.

Source: State Export-Related Employment Project, International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census.

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Exports Sustain Thousands of Connecticut Businesses

A total of 4,636 companies exported from Connecticut locations in 2006. Of those, 4,111 (89 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.

Small and medium-sized firms generated nearly one-third (30 percent) percent of Connecticut'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 Connecticut

In 2005, 100,900 Connecticut workers were employed by foreign-controlled companies. Major sources of foreign investment in Connecticut in 2005 included the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Switzerland.

Over one-quarter of these jobs (27 percent, or 26,800 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2005.

Over one-eighth of all Connecticut manufacturing workers in 2005 (13.7 percent) were employed by foreign-controlled companies.

Foreign investment in Connecticut was responsible for 6.9 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2005.

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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Connecticut Depends on World Markets

Connecticut's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $13.7 billion, up $5.6 billion (69 percent) since 2003.

Connecticut exported to 194 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's leading market was Canada ($1.8 billion), followed by Germany ($1.5 billion), France ($1.4 billion), the United Kingdom ($855 million), and Mexico ($785 million).

Transportation equipment accounted for 42 percent ($5.7 billion) of the 2007 export value, dominating the state's exports that year. Other important sectors included machinery manufactures ($1.6 billion in 2007 exports), chemical manufactures ($1.4 billion), and computers and electronic products ($1.3 billion).

Source: 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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Connecticut's Metropolitan Exports

In 2006, the metropolitan area of Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford exported $7.0 billion in merchandise, 44 percent of Connecticut's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Connecticut that exported in 2006 included Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk ($6.6 billion), New Haven-Milford ($1.5 billion), and Norwich-New London ($259 million).

Source: Metropolitan Export Series, Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division.

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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