Boston: The number of women workers in the US finance industry has been declining over the past few years, with recession and technology to blame. In the past 10 years, 141,000 women or 2.6 per cent of female workers in finance left the industry. In contrast, the number of men joining the industry grew by 389,000 in that period, or 9.6 per cent, The Wall Street Journal reported. "The difference is pronounced at brokerage firms, investment banks and asset-management companies. The figures suggest that women bore the brunt of the layoffs in the recent recession," it added. Technology too accounted for some of the decline in the women workforce in the finance industry. "Across the economy, computers have replaced junior, back-office workers, jobs that were largely filled by women." However, the number of women in the overall US labour market grew by 4.