R.I. exports surge 10.5% in March

AFTER THREE CONSECUTIVE months of declines in the number of foreign exports from Rhode Island, the state saw exports increase 10.5 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted $184.9 million. Nationally, exports grew 2.8 percent in March to $135 billion. / COURTESY E-FORECASTING.COM
AFTER THREE CONSECUTIVE months of declines in the number of foreign exports from Rhode Island, the state saw exports increase 10.5 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted $184.9 million. Nationally, exports grew 2.8 percent in March to $135 billion. / COURTESY E-FORECASTING.COM

PROVIDENCE – Exports from Rhode Island climbed 10.5 percent in March compared with the previous month, ending three consecutive months of export declines, according to an e-forecasting.com report released May 27.

Rhode Island exports increased by $17.5 million in March to a seasonally adjusted $184.9 million. On a year-over-year basis, exports from the Ocean State increased by $1.8 million, or roughly one percent.

Foreign sales of manufactured goods accounted for approximately 63 percent of Rhode Island’s exports in March, totaling $117.2 million. Shipments abroad from Rhode Island manufacturers in March dropped 1.9 percent compared with February exports, but increased 2.6 percent compared with March 2013.

The $67.7 million total of non-manufactured exports in March represented a month-over-month improvement of 41.3 percent and a year-over-year decline of 1.7 percent. Non-manufactured goods include agricultural goods, mining products and re-exports.

- Advertisement -

Rhode Island ranked 41st among the 50 states in terms of growth or reduction in exports during the first three months of 2014, e-forecasting.com reported. Through March, Rhode Island exports dropped 8.8 percent compared with the same period last year.

U.S. exports for March totaled a seasonally adjusted $135.1 billion, representing a 2.8 percent increase over the previous month and an increase of 4.5 percent compared with March 2013.

For the first three months of the year, the United States ranked as the world’s second-largest exporter, shipping abroad $400 billion worth of goods so far, according to the World Trade Organization’s report. The $400 billion represented a 2.3 percent increase over the first-quarter 2013 total and compared with $491 billion in exports shipped from China and $383 billion shipped from Germany.

Worldwide, exports rose 1.8 percent in the first quarter to $4.1 trillion.

No posts to display