10 Dying American Industries

By Harry Bradford, The Huffington Post

The recession has caused the failure of some formidable companies, Lehman Brothers and Circuit City among them. Not only individual businesses have suffered, however. The economic woes of the last decade have preyed upon entire industries.

In a new report entitled "Dying Industries," by Toon Von Beeck, research firm IBISWorld identifies 10 U.S. industries that have experienced severe, possibly irreversible drop-offs over the past decade, today remaining stuck in the decline phase of their business cycle.

All mentioned industries -- having already experienced significant decreases in revenue over the last decade -- can be expected to experience further declines through 2016. The reasons for the suffering vary by industry, but IBISWorld attributes a significant amount of industry strife to three primary factors: new technology, foreign competition and industry stagnation.

With the country still reeling from a housing crisis, manufactured home dealers may be in the most trouble, the report finds. Over 50 percent of manufactured home dealers closed their doors over the past decade, and revenue numbers for those still open are terrible: down 73.7 percent with a further 62 percent decline expected by 2016.

And while the decline of some high-profile industries, like the newspaper and record businesses, have been well-documented for years, who knew that rental formal wear could soon be passé? The apparel industry has suffered tremendously from foreign competition, with revenues down 77.1 percent since 2000. Photofinishers have largely been supplanted by digital camera as well. But maybe some can take solace in the fact that there likely won't be a sequel forthcoming to 2002's One Hour Photo.

Click here for the top 10 list