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Following an
astonishing 26 percent jump in October, foreign sales from New Hampshire
companies rose again in November.
State exports edged up 0.2 percent from October to $183.4 million.
In comparison to a year ago, the state’s exporting companies in November
2003 shipped abroad $41.3 million more, or 29.1 percent, locally produced
goods than in November 2002.
November’s performance resulted from different trends in foreign demand for
the state’s major exporting industries.
Manufactured goods — the engine of growth and a generator of new factory
jobs with spillover effects on all industries — account for 80 percent of
all state exports.
In November, exports of manufactured goods were 25 percent higher than a
year ago.
At the national level, international trade statistics are adjusted for
seasonal effects such as weather, holidays, and other recurring monthly
events. Applying the same technique to New Hampshire’s trade statistics,
November’s picture on export performance was even better than the original
numbers indicated.
November’s shipments abroad from local companies, seasonally adjusted, rose
$13.1 million from the previous month or 7.5 percent. At the national level,
exports of goods, seasonally adjusted, rose only 3.5 percent in November.
The recent revival of New Hampshire exports is due to stronger global
economic growth and the falling value of the dollar against the currencies
of the state’s major trading partners.
The foreign sales rebound is expected to also lead to a revival in local
manufacturing jobs in 2004.
There is a link between growth in exports of manufactured products and
factory employment in the Granite State. A convenient way to look at the
relation of exports to export-generated employment is the average number of
state factory jobs supported by $10 million of exports of manufactured
products.
In New Hampshire, about 150 jobs are generated for every $10 million of
locally made manufactured goods. Thus, the $30 million increase in the
state’s exports of manufactured goods during October and November,
contributed to the creation of about 450 export-related factory jobs.
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