WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) today reported that foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States over the past decade has supported more than 5 million U.S. jobs that, on average, paid 30 percent more than other jobs. The findings, presented in a new ESA report entitled “Foreign Direct Investment in the United States,” point the way toward policies that could expand the number of foreign partners investing in the United States and, in so doing, create more high-paying U.S. jobs.
Total FDI has exceeded $1.7 trillion over the past decade. The manufacturing sector relies heavily on FDI, where close to 2 million FDI-supported jobs reside. In 2010, $78 billion, or 41 percent of total FDI, was spent on the manufacturing sector.
“Foreign direct investment in the United States is a critical dimension of our economy and one that holds great growth potential for high-paying American jobs,” said Dr. Rebecca Blank, Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Under Secretary for Economic Affairs. “By expanding the number of countries that bring business operations to the United States and encouraging further domestic business expansion, we can leverage foreign investment as a powerful engine for U.S. economic growth and job creation.”
In 2010, the majority of FDI came from only eight countries: Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Canada. A temporary surge of FDI recorded in 2007 suggests there is untapped potential for increasing total foreign investment in the United States by expanding the number of countries that operate here. A copy of the ESA report “Foreign Investment in the United States” can be found at www.esa.doc.gov [4].
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