Montana: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Montana's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 1.8 percent of Montana's total private-sector employment. Over one-tenth (10.6 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Montana 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 Hundreds of Montana Businesses

A total of 823 companies exported goods from Montana locations in 2007. Of those, 722 (88 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated more than half (59 percent) of Montana's total exports of merchandise in 2007. That was the second highest percentage among the 50 states, and well above the national average of 30 percent.

Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Exporter Database.

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Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in Montana

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 6,800 workers in Montana. Major sources of Montana's foreign investment in 2006 were the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Switzerland and Japan.

Over one-sixth of these jobs (18 percent, or 1,200 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2006.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 5.6 percent of total manufacturing employment in Montana in 2006.

Foreign investment in Montana was responsible for 1.9 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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Montana Depends on World Markets

Montana's export shipments of merchandise in 2008 totaled $1.4 billion. Montana's exports increased by 146 percent over 2004 levels, the third largest percentage increase among the 50 states.

The state's largest market in 2008, by far, was Canada, which received goods exports of $701 million (50 percent of Montana's total exports that year). Canada was followed by Japan ($131 million), Taiwan ($75 million), South Korea ($67 million) and China ($61 million).

Montana's leading manufactured export category is chemical manufactures, which alone accounted for $353 million, or 25 percent, of Montana's total export shipments in 2008. Other top manufactured exports included machinery manufactures ($186 million), transportation equipment ($151 million), and primary metal manufactures ($115 million).

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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Montana's Metropolitan Exports

In the first half of 2008, the metropolitan area of Billings exported $51 million in merchandise, 7 percent of Montana's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Montana that exported in the first half of 2008 included Great Falls ($43 million), and Missoula ($38 million).

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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