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State's manufactured exports drop 19%; U.S. total was worse
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Minnesota's manufactured exports plunged 19 percent during the second quarter, but a state government report said Thursday that exports nationally fell by an even steeper 26 percent during the quarter.
About $943 million of the state's $3.6 billion in April-June exports went to Canada, the state's biggest trade partner.
"Minnesota had a record year for exports last year, and we're confident that our overseas markets will recover once the global economy improves," said Dan McElroy, commissioner of the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
Some economists contend that the U.S. economy started to recover in the third quarter, and there was some good manufacturing news in a second state report released Thursday. DEED reported that Minnesota manufacturers added 1,800 jobs in September, but the manufacturing sector still has a long way to go to repair job losses. About 36,900 manufacturing jobs in the state were cut during the 12 months ending in September.
Those job reductions were in response to the sharp drop in domestic and export orders for manufactured goods.
In the first half of this year, Minnesota exports declined by 19.2 percent, while the national drop was 24.1 percent.
Among the top 10 countries that buy Minnesota products, Canada and the United Kingdom both slashed their second-quarter purchases by 25 percent and Mexico cut them by 21 percent. The Netherlands, which ranks No. 10 in purchases, chopped quarterly spending by 40 percent to $96 million.
China, the state's second-largest trade partner, bought $330 million in manufactured goods from Minnesota in the quarter, which was flat compared with a year earlier.
The manufacturing segment with the largest number of sales was computers and electronics, where sales declined 18 percent to $831 million.
Machinery sales came in second place with $687 million for the quarter, which was a 12 percent decline from a year earlier.
Liz Fedor • 612-673-7709
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