Southern California is home to 10,378 foreign-owned businesses that employ 427,954 workers and generate nearly $27 billion in annual wages, according to a report from World Trade Center Los Angeles.
The study, compiled in partnership with Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy and sponsored by American Airlines, says those employees represent 5.4 percent of the region’s total workforce.
“The biggest thing this report shows is that international trade is creating jobs,” said Stephen Cheung, president of the trade center, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “We might see some fluctuation up and down, but the fact that this region is able to attract more than 10,000 of these firms … that’s a huge story. Where else in the nation would you have a region with the power to attract that many businesses?”
The region’s foreign-owned enterprises grew by nearly 1,300, or 4.5 percent, from 2015, the report said. The job count associated with those businesses was up 16.8 percent with a slight decline noted in 2017.
View Article