R.I. 20th among states for export growth in Jan.

RHODE ISLAND ranked 20th among all states for its 1.6 percent year-over-year export growth in January, according to e-forecasting.com. / COURTESY E-FORECASTING.COM
RHODE ISLAND ranked 20th among all states for its 1.6 percent year-over-year export growth in January, according to e-forecasting.com. / COURTESY E-FORECASTING.COM

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island ranked 20th among all states for its 1.6 percent year-over-year export growth in January, according to e-forecasting.com.

Hawaii ranked first with 75.7 percent growth. Among the New England states, Vermont ranked the highest at 12th with 7.1 percent growth, followed by Maine at 16th with 5 percent growth.

The remaining New England states experienced declines – Connecticut, a 1.9 percent drop, ranking it 28th; Massachusetts, an 8.1 percent drop, ranking it 41st, and New Hampshire, a 35.2 percent decrease, for 50th place.

In Rhode Island, exports of manufactured goods were the key contributor of foreign sales in January, accounting for 64.3 percent, or $114.4 million, of all state exports, which totaled $177.9 million. However, overseas shipments from manufacturing companies decreased 22.5 percent in January from December, adjusted for seasonal variation. Year over year, shipments dipped 1.3 percent.

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Exports of non-manufactured goods – including agricultural goods and mining products and re-exports – rose 7.1 percent year over year in January to $63.5 million, adjusted for seasonal variation.

At the national level, exports of goods, adjusted for seasonal variation, fell 4.1 percent in January to $128.7 billion from December’s $134.2 billion, mainly reflecting deep declines in industrial supplies and materials. Year over year, the decline was similar, 3.9 percent.

The report blamed “economic stagnation in Europe and the slowdown in emerging economies” for the drag on worldwide trade. The World Trade Organization said that global exports plunged 10.4 percent to $1.24 trillion in January compared with the year-ago period – the lowest monthly reading since February 2011.

That slower economic growth abroad means lower demand for state exports, e-forecasting.com said.

“The outlook over the next few months for exports of manufactured goods depends on the pace of incoming orders from foreign buyers. According to the February business survey conducted by the Institute of Supply Management, the nation’s purchasing executives continue to be pessimistic about the prospects of selling abroad their products,” e-forecasting.com said.
Tempe, Ariz.-based ISM reported that its export indicator showed a contraction in incoming export orders for the second month in a row, after 25 consecutive months of growth. In addition, the February reading of the export gauge indicated that orders from abroad were declining at a faster pace than in January.

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