R.I. 12th in nation for YTD export growth through April

RHODE ISLAND'S EXPORTS TOTALED $184.6 million in April, a 2.2 percent increase compared with the year-ago period. / COURTESY E-FORECASTING.COM
RHODE ISLAND'S EXPORTS TOTALED $184.6 million in April, a 2.2 percent increase compared with the year-ago period. / COURTESY E-FORECASTING.COM

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island ranked 12th among the states for its 2.1 percent year-over-year export growth in the first four months of the year, according to e-forecasting.com.
Hawaii ranked first for its 40.3 percent export growth during the same period, while Louisiana ranked last for its nearly 26 percent drop.
In Rhode Island for April, exports totaled $184.6 million, a 2.2 percent increase compared with $180.6 million in April 2014. The number is adjusted for seasonal variation, a process that smooths out monthly fluctuations for factors including the number of days in a month and holidays.
Shipments abroad led April’s foreign sales, accounting for 65 percent of all exports. Manufacturing exports increased 4.4 percent year over year in April to $120 million. Manufacturing exports are including in the total exports number, which also features farming and mining, a category that slipped 1.7 percent year over year to $64.6 million.
E-forecasting said that experts forecast worldwide economic growth at 2.3 percent this year, which it called “good news” for state exporters.
“The expectation of gains in worldwide trade translates to good news for Rhode Island’s exporters. In the second half of 2015, orders from abroad, especially from emerging economies, are forecast to moderately increase relative to current levels, which would improve production and generate new export-related jobs in the Little Rhody,” e-forecasting.com said.
E-forecasting said the United States was the second-largest exporter in the world from January through April with foreign sales at $512 billion, a 4.7 percent drop compared with the same period a year ago. China was first with $690 billion worth of goods sold abroad, 1.6 percent more than a year ago.

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