Massachusetts: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Massachusetts' Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 5.7 percent of Massachusetts' total private-sector employment. Over one-quarter (26.4 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Massachusetts depend on exports for their jobs, the third highest 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 Massachusetts Businesses

A total of 8,335 companies exported goods from Massachusetts in 2006. Of those, 7,422 (89 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated over one-fourth (28 percent) of Massachusetts' 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 Massachusetts

In 2005, foreign-controlled companies employed 167,500 workers in Massachusetts. Major sources of Massachusetts' foreign investment in 2005 included the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Germany.

Approximately one-fifth of these jobs (19 percent, or 31,700 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2005.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 10.3 percent, over one-tenth, of total manufacturing employment in Massachusetts in 2005.

Foreign investment in Massachusetts was responsible for 5.8 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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Massachusetts Depends on World Markets

Massachusetts' export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $25.3 billion, the 13th largest export figure among the 50 states. This is a $6.6 billion increase over the 2003 total of $18.7 billion. Massachusetts ranked 19th among the states in terms of dollar growth in exports from 2003 to 2007.

Massachusetts exported to 206 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market in 2007 was Canada, which accounted for $3.4 billion (13 percent) of Massachusetts' total merchandise exports. Canada was followed by Germany ($2.4 billion), the United Kingdom ($2.3 billion), the Netherlands ($2.2 billion), and Japan ($2.2 billion).

The state's leading export category is computers and electronic products, which accounted for $7.7 billion, or 30 percent, of Massachusetts' total merchandise exports in 2007. Other top manufactured exports were chemical manufactures ($5.2 billion in 2007), machinery manufactures ($2.9 billion), and miscellaneous manufactures ($2.3 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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Massachusetts' Metropolitan Exports

In 2006, the metropolitan area of Worcester exported $2.7 billion in merchandise, 11 percent of Massachusetts' total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Massachusetts that exported merchandise in 2006 included Springfield ($873 million), and Pittsfield ($462 million). Two major metropolitan area exporters include some counties in Massachusetts. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy (including some parts of New Hampshire) exported $20.3 billion, while Providence-New Bedford-Fall River (including some parts of Rhode Island) exported $3.3 billion in merchandise in 2006.

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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