Metro Milwaukee companies exported $2.35 billion worth of goods during the second quarter, an increase of 7.6% from the same time in 2022, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The second quarter figures represent a slowdown in growth from the first three months of the year when exports were up nearly 17% for the region. However, Milwaukee’s export total did outpace the combined total of the 10 Midwest metros tracked by the Census Bureau where exports were down 0.6%.
The Chicago metro area, which exported more than $14.7 billion in goods for the quarter, was down almost 14%, was a major driver of the decline.
Minneapolis-St. Paul, down 2.4%, St. Louis, down 17%, Cleveland, up 5.2%, and Peroria, Illinois, up 7.3%, also lagged behind the Milwaukee area.
On the other hand, Detroit saw an 11.4% increase in exports, Indianapolis was up 23.8% and Kansas City and Columbus, Ohio both growth of more than 8%.
Nationally, exports were down 7.3% in the quarter and 8.5% for all metro areas. The top northeastern metros saw a 9.6% decline, top metros in the south were down 10% and top metros in the west were down 10.7%.
For the year, metro Milwaukee’s exports are up 11.6% compared to 5.2% for the top Midwest metros.
