NEW YORK (AP) — US airlines have cut jobs for two straight years, the government said, as accelerating layoffs and outsourcing sped up a downward slide that started in 2001.

The industry has now lost one of every four US employees it had a decade ago — before the last two recessions and the September 11 attacks.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics said the level of US airline employment in June was the second-lowest in 20 years.

In that same time period, annual passenger traffic has jumped about 65 percent.

Job losses at US airlines have picked up since 2008 because the recession forced carriers to cut thousands of jobs here and ship more overseas.

The industry has lost 54,000 jobs, or 16 percent of its work force, in the last two years.