The Biz Flog Highlighted Export Boom Weeks before GDP Jump

That “Made in America” sticker is looking more attractive.

Second-quarter (2Q) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was revised up from 1.9 percent growth to a higher than anticipated 3.3 percent, according to reports on August 28.

Rising exports played a significant role in the expansion. According to the Commerce Department, real exports increased 13.2 percent in the 2Q of 2008, compared with an increase of 5.1 percent in the first. Real imports of goods and services decreased 0.8 percent in the first quarter and 7.6 percent in the second.

The good news on exports has been falling by the wayside in the media. The Business & Media Institute's video blog, The Biz Flog, pointed out the positive news about exports back on August 6.

Thanks to a weak dollar, it is now cheaper to export goods from the U.S. to other countries. But the story hasn't caught on in the mainstream media just yet.

On July 16, J.P. Morgan's Bruce Kasman told James Pethokoukis, who writes the "Capital Commerce" blog at USNews.com, that trade is strong:

This is related to the decline in the dollar and the composition of U.S. exports which is concentrated in agricultural products, industrial supplies, and capital equipment-items that remain in demand by rapidly growing emerging market economies.

The Charlotte Observer profiled manufacturers' rising exports on June 27:

The weak dollar has helped drive oil prices to historic highs and curbed overseas vacations, but it also has boosted exports, with almost $40 billion in goods heading from North Carolina and South Carolina to other countries last year, U.S. Department of Commerce data show. That's an increase of almost 64 percent in the past five years.

Exports from North Carolina and South Carolina increased by 15 percent, outpacing the national rate of 12 percent.

National Public Radio reported on the phenomena from Cleveland, Ohio, where they spoke with Greg Gens, Vice President of Superior Products Inc. - a company that makes valves for oxygen tanks:

Gens told NPR, "When we go overseas now, a dollar-denominated price is something much more competitive - if you are competing against companies that are selling in euros, for instance ... So there is an advantage as we set up and try to get product into Europe or Southeast Asia."