Merchandise export trade, at $10.35 billion in September, was up 3.2% from August, but still down 16.3% from the same month last year, according to an analysis of Commerce Department data released by the University of California Center Sacramento today. Agricultural exports fared better than those of manufactured goods, with total ag shipments declining 8.2% from last year. … Exports of manufactured goods, on the other hand, were down 19.3% from September 2008, indicating that California’s days as a manufacturing center are continuing to slip away, an analyst said. Overall, the data “suggest that Northern California may be turning the corner faster than Southern California.”
