Nebraska: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Nebraska's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 5.4 percent of Nebraska's total private-sector employment. Over one-eighth (12.9 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Nebraska 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 More Than a Thousand Nebraska Businesses

A total of 1,214 companies exported goods from Nebraska locations in 2007. Of those, 971, or 80 percent, were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated 26 percent of Nebraska's total exports of merchandise in 2007.

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

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Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in Nebraska

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 18,700 workers in Nebraska. Major sources of Nebraska's foreign investment in 2006 were Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Switzerland.

Nearly one-half (47 percent) of these jobs, or 8,700 workers, were in the manufacturing sector in 2006.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 8.5 percent of total manufacturing employment in Nebraska in 2006.

Foreign investment in Nebraska was responsible for 2.4 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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Nebraska Depends on World Markets

Nebraska's export shipments of merchandise in 2008 totaled $5.4 billion, up $3.1 billion (132 percent) since 2004. That was the sixth largest percentage change among the 50 states over that time period.

The state's largest market in 2008 was Canada, which received goods exports of $1.5 billion (28 percent of Nebraska's total exports that year). Canada was followed Mexico ($1.1 billion), Japan ($398 million), China ($199 million), and South Korea ($149 million).

Nebraska's leading manufactured export category is processed foods, which alone accounted for $1.5 billion, or 27 percent of Nebraska's total export shipments in 2008. Other top manufactured exports that year included machinery manufactures ($1.0 billion), transportation equipment ($484 million), and chemical manufactures ($364 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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Nebraska's Metropolitan Exports

In the first half of 2008, the metropolitan area of Lincoln exported $360 million in merchandise, 14 percent of Nebraska's total merchandise exports. Two major metropolitan area exporters include some counties in Nebraska. Omaha-Council Bluffs (including some parts of Iowa) exported $1.3 billion, while Sioux City (including some parts of Iowa and South Dakota) exported $574 million in merchandise in the first half of 2008.

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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