INDIANA, (WOWO): It turns out northwest Indiana has lost a third of its steel jobs since 2000, but reports show the remaining workers are producing more raw metal than their counterparts did.

8,700 jobs have melted away, according to a report by ArcelorMittal. An IU economics professor says the situation could be worse. Nationally, employment in primary metals manufacturing has fallen by more than 35 percent, while the number of metal manufacturing jobs in the Gary metropolitan area has actually risen by 3-and-a-half percent since 2010. U.S. mills produced 95 million tons of steel last year.