California Trade Report for December 2020

The share of total US goods trade (exports and imports) through California ports edged up to 18.02% (12 month moving average; compared to 17.94% in November 2020 and 17.54% in December 2019).

California remained the #1 state, ahead of Texas with 16.92% (compared to 17.01% in November 2020 and 17.88% in December 2019). Trade through the Atlantic port states was at 30.62% (compared to 30.65% in November 2020 and 29.87% in December 2019). 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 684,200 jobs in December (little changed from 684,100 in December 2019), paying an average annual salary of $61.6k. This employment base in turn supports additional blue-collar and white-collar jobs in a range of other industries.

Total California goods exports were largely unchanged with a gain of $24 million from December 2019 (up 0.2%), as the trend towards recovery in this indicator finally turned positive. Total state exports in the period February through November were down a total of $17.6 billion (off 12%) compared to the same period in 2019. In December, California remained in 2nd place with 10.91% of all US goods exports (12 month moving total), behind Texas at 19.51%.

California’s balance of goods trade activity through state businesses broadened to -$22.4 billion, compared to a level of -$19.2 billion in December 2019. California trade accounted for 27% of the US trade deficit in goods in December 2020.