Total US goods trade (exports and imports) through California ports edged down to 17.90% (12 month moving average; compared to 17.94% in June 2019 and 18.29% in July 2018).

California remained the #1 state, ahead of Texas with 17.72% (compared to 17.74% in June 2019 and 17.25% in July 2018). Trade through the Atlantic port states was at 29.61% (compared to 29.55% in June 2019 and 29.39% in July 2018). The state’s continued lead in this area forms the trade-related base for one of California’s largest centers of middle-class, blue-collar jobs. Transportation & Warehousing alone provided 620,500 jobs in July (up from 605,900 in July 2018), paying an average annual salary of $63.5k. This employment base in turn supports additional blue-collar and white-collar jobs in a range of other industries..

Total California goods exports were down $0.4 billion from July 2018 (down 3%). California remained in 2nd place with 10.56% of all US goods exports (12 month moving total), behind Texas at 19.56%.
 

California’s balance of goods trade through state businesses narrowed to -$22.4 billion, compared to a level of -$22.9 billion in July 2018. California trade accounted for 26% of the US trade deficit in goods in July 2019.