ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA (May 03, 2002) – According to findings from The Printing Industries of America’s (PIA) Quarterly Market Survey sponsored by Heidelberg, over the course of 2001 the printing industry downsized by around 1700 plants and 60,000 employees. This trend continued during the first quarter of 2002. About one in three firms indicate that they reduced their employee counts during the first quarter while 15 percent indicated they added employees. A look at firms hiring employees during the quarter shows that just over 43 percent of all firms added employees to payroll. At the same time 48 percent of the respondents indicated their firm decreased production/technical employees. The top reasons for headcount reductions were layoffs from slow business, not replacing retirements and productivity improvements. According to Dr. Ron Davis, PIA's Chief Economist, " Some printers are already seeing a gradual positive trend with the regards to their business, however, there are still more jobs being lost than created. While the national economy seems to be on an upswing, printers are at the tail end of that growth." If you have any questions please contact Dr. Ron Davis at 703/519-8102 - [email protected] .