Strong finish in December lifts California’s export trade industry
BY MARK GLOVER,The Sacramento Bee
February 07, 2018 09:30 AM-Updated February 07, 2018 05:28 PM
California merchandise export trade closed out 2017 with an exceptional December, pushing the value of all shipments last year to $171.93 billion, the second-best showing ever.
Last year’s total was up 5 percent over $163.62 billion amassed in 2016 and fell just short of the all-time record of $173.87 billion set in 2014, according to Beacon Economics’ analysis of U.S. trade statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Beacon noted that the comparison was on a straight-up dollar basis, not accounting for inflation.
Even so, analysts were ecstatic over California businesses shipping merchandise valued at $15.32 billion in December, a nearly 10 percent gain over $14.04 billion recorded in December 2016.
