The hardest-hit sectors have been interest sensitive, such as the utilities, where the Dow utility index closed at 204.34 and is lower than at the beginning of the year.

One of the hardest-hit sectors of the American economy was the railroad industry, which had been the object a speculative bubble of massive investment between 1867 and 1877.

Chemical Stocks Down Recently strong groups were among the hardest-hit industrial sectors.

Iraqi efforts to break sanctions have thus far been largely unsuccessful. . . . Industry appears to be the hardest-hit sector so far.

Between 1982 and 1986, the hardest-hit sector was machinery manufacturing, which lost 325,700 jobs, a 15 percent decline, to 1,863,000 employees.

Mr. Rogers has also been buying utilities, one of the first quarter's hardest-hit sectors, whose losses he attributes to the bond market's dive.

Technology had been one of the hardest-hit sectors recently, with the Pacific index down nearly 22 percent since its high in May.

For the hardest-hit sectors, including insurance, brokerage firms, airlines, travel and entertainment, much of the bad news is out.

While the recession has hurt all American construction, the hardest-hit sector has been commercial office space, where the worst of the overbuilding took place in the 1980's.

At least in part, immigrants have been shielded from this accusation because there are few of them in the hardest-hit sectors of the labor market, like manufacturing.