State exports rose in August

California exported $16.1 billion worth of goods in August, a year-over-year increase of 9.9 percent, according to data released Oct. 8.

At the same time, U.S. exports totaled $180.442 billion, a 5.2 percent increase compared with August 2023, Beacon Economics in Los Angeles reported.

That was enough to give California nine percent of the U.S. export market during August, up 0.4 percent one year earlier according to Beacon’s analysis, which is based on data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Division.

In August 2019 – before COVID-19 – California’s share of the U.S. export trade was 10.8 percent.

During the first eight month of this year, California’s exports amounted to $120.2 billion, up 1.6 percent compared with the first eight months of 2023.

“August’s bump in California’s merchandise exports is the largest year-over-year gain we have seen in quite some time,” said Jock O’Connell, Beacon’s international trade advisor, in a statement. “The gain would have been higher if (not for) a sharp fall-off in exports of aerospace equipment and electric vehicles, two categories in which the state once excelled.”