Textiles jobs drop again in March

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 4/1/2005 12:16:00 PM

WASHINGTON , D.C. — The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that, after seasonal adjustments, 7,600 textiles and apparel jobs were lost in March.

Breaking down the job losses by sector, textiles lost 3,100 jobs while apparel lost 4,500. Job losses in March bring the total industry job losses during the 90 days of the first quarter of 2005 to 17,200, according to the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC), a trade group focused on preserving U.S. textiles jobs.

Since January 2001, U.S. textiles and apparel employment has fallen from 1.05 million to 665,900 as of March 2005, stated AMTAC. The loss of 381,300 jobs represents 36.4 percent of the January 2001 workforce.