At the same time, employment in these companies grew by 66 percent, or more than 103,000 workers, according to the report.

Employment at these firms also grew 22 percent from 754,000 to 921,000.

There was explosive job growth last year in health services, where employment grew by nearly 500,000.

The new data calls into question the previous conclusion that employment grew at a strong rate in late 2006.

With such a jump in orders, employment could grow as well.

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

Employment must grow by roughly 150,000 to 200,000 jobs each month to keep pace with the population.

In Nebraska, for example, total employment is growing at a rate about a third that of manufacturing.

Employment has grown at an average 5.75%, reaching 118,900 in 2007.

Employment grew by only 0.3% over the three months to April.