2014 U.S. Exports Support Record 11.7M Jobs

WASHINGTON (CN) - U.S. goods and services exports supported more than 11.7 million jobs in 2014 - a new record - according to a Department of Commerce report issued Wednesday. The number of export-related positions is up 1.8 million since 2009, which can be mostly explained by the growth of U.S. exports.

In 2014, every $1 billion of U.S. exports supported nearly 5,800 jobs. Goods exports supported 7.1 million jobs in 2014, up 1.0 million jobs from 2009. Services exports supported a record 4.6 million jobs in 2014, up 700,000 from 2009.

"Today's new data is further evidence that exports are creating jobs and strengthening our economy," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said in a statement announcing the report. "We know that export-related jobs are good jobs, paying up to 18 percent more than non-export related positions.

"With 95 percent of worldwide consumers living outside the U.S., ensuring that American businesses can sell their goods and services around the globe is critical to continued economic growth."

Pritzker then encouraged Congress to pass bipartisan trade promotion legislation, "so we can implement new trade agreements that will help our businesses, workers, and innovators compete on a level playing field and succeed around the world."

The statement announcing the new export report continues:

"For the past 40 years, Congress has enacted trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation to help guide both Democratic and Republican presidents in pursuing trade agreements that support U.S. jobs, eliminate barriers to U.S. exports, and set rules to level the playing field for U.S. companies, farmers, ranchers and workers. TPA allows Congress to set high-standard objectives and priorities for U.S. trade negotiators and establish a process for consulting with Congress and the public."

The news for jobs is not perfect, however, according to the report itself:

"U.S. goods exports supported an estimated 7.1 million jobs in 2014, an increase of 1.0 million jobs from 2009. However, increases in export prices and labor productivity continued to decrease the number of jobs supported by one billion dollars of goods exports. Since 2009 the number of jobs supported by one billion dollars of goods exports has fallen by 21 percent, from 6,582 jobs supported in 2009, to 5,210 jobs supported in 2014.

"U.S. services exports supported an estimated 4.6 million jobs in 2014, an increase of 0.7 million from 2009 and a record for the series. However, as with goods, increases in export prices and labor productivity combined to decrease the number of jobs supported by one billion dollars of services exports. Since 2009 the number of jobs supported by one billion dollars of services exports has fallen by nearly 14 percent, from 8,161 jobs supported in 2009, to 7,033 jobs supported in 2014. Compared to goods, services tend to embody more labor directly and indirectly per billion dollars of output, which is reflected in the larger services number of jobs supported for each billion dollars of exports."

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