PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island exports surged 28.8 percent in August from a year earlier, according to e-forecasting.com.
Exports grew to $192.9 million from $174.9 million.
When compared to a month earlier, August exports increased 10.3 percent.
Rhody manufactured goods fell 6.6 percent from a year earlier and 11.5 percent from a month earlier. Meanwhile, nonmanufactured exports – agricultural goods, mining products and re-exports – swelled 109.6 percent in August from a year earlier and 47.1 percent from a month earlier.
Nationally, exports grew 16.8 percent in August to $126.7 billion year-over-year; they declined 0.1 percent from a month earlier.
U.S. industries reporting export increases include: food, feeds and beverages, and industrial supplies and materials; decreases were seen in auto and capital good industries, e-forecasting said.
In a ranking of export growth, Rhode Island took 14th place nationally, as foreign sales increased by an annual rate of 24.9 percent. The U.S. exports rose 20.2 percent through August.
Looking ahead, Rhode Island companies “are expected to witness a weakening in export orders from their major foreign markets next year, especially from advanced economies,” said e-forecasting.com chief economist Evangelos Simos, pointing to a recent report from the International Monetary Fund.
“The recovery has weakened considerably, and downside risks have increased sharply,” said Olivier Blanchard, IMF director of research, in presenting the World Economic Outlook. The IMF predicted a slowdown in global growth and volume of international trade.
“Fear of the unknown is very high… the forecast assumes that existing policy commitments are met. Otherwise, things could be much worse,” he said.
