Tagged: exports

Missouri exports are growing at a record-setting pace this year and trade with markets in Asia is up more than 24 percent this year alone.

Tim Nowak, executive director of World Trade Center St. Louis, said low paying manufacturing jobs in Asia have created a consumer market for Missouri products.

Nowak said that, in turn, translates to jobs in St. Louis.  

Illinois exports rose more than 17 percent in the first quarter to their highest level in more than a decade.

The increase was driven by sales of industrial machinery, petroleum and coal products, automobiles and chemicals. The export of products to build roads and factories in China and Brazil also helped boost the numbers.

An announcement from Gov. Pat Quinn's office says exports for January through March reached $17.2 billion. That's compared with $14.7 billion from the same period last year.

The governor has set a goal of doubling the state's exports by 2014.