By the time the plant closed, employment had declined to 300.

Total employment has declined by nearly 16,000 since the beginning of the fiscal year.

But employment in the service sector also declined, by about 1,100.

But how is that possible, when employment has grown more slowly than the population, or even declined?

But employment still declined during the quarter, leaving many Americans with little to show for the boom.

Employment also declined in February after increasing for eight consecutive months.

Employment declined from 4,105 in 1996 to 3,800 in 2000.

The industry's revenues have increased slightly since 1986 to an estimated $2.9 billion this year, while employment has declined more than 8,000 people, to 60,150.

Employment there has actually declined to 1,200 workers from 1,700 as Mexico relaxed the restrictions.

"For the first year of this recovery, employment declined and the unemployment rate kept rising," he said.