New Commerce Department Report Shows Foreign Direct Investment Supports Millions of High-Paying Jobs

The Commerce Department’s Economics and Statistics Administration released a report summarizing recent foreign investment in the U.S. that identified several opportunities for growth. The report shows 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.

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.