The Commerce Department issued great news for exporters and American workers last week. According to Commerce’s report, Jobs Supported by Export Destination 2015, American jobs supported by U.S. exports to current free trade agreement partners grew 22% from 2009 to 2015. In 2015, U.S. exports to these free trade partners supported more than three million American jobs. Exports to NAFTA partners account for approximately one-fourth of these jobs.
According to the report, 11.5 million American jobs are thanks to U.S. exports. Total American jobs supported by U.S. exports increased by approximately 1.9 million. The report explains why the U.S. government has stepped up effort to support U.S. exports, such as with the recent creation of the Trade Finance Advisory Council (TFAC). TFAC’s goal is to explore means to improve financing to U.S. exporters, especially small and medium-sized businesses for which export opportunities are multiple and yet often not seized.
The report breaks down the 11.5 million American jobs supported by U.S. exports by the exports to specific countries and regions that have generated certain kinds of jobs. This report follows up on a similarly helpful Commerce Department report issued this summer that breaks down U.S. export growth by industry sector. For a short summary of that report, which reveals that the United States remains very competitive in particular export markets, see my post from last June.
