Over 65,000 employees have lost jobs during the three-month period ending October in the country on account of economic slowdown, official sources said.

"A sample survey of 21 companies found that 65,507 jobs were lost across the country in various sectors between August and October," an official said.

Besides, the exporters have lost orders worth Rs 1,792 crore) Rs 17.92 billion) on account of slowdown in global trade and lack of demand from the United States and European markets, the main destinations of Indian products.

A different survey conducted by the Apparel Export Promotion Council, a body sponsored by the textile ministry, in Noida suggested that over 9,000 textile workers employed in export-oriented units were rendered jobless after the slowdown gripped the economies of the developed nations.

India's exports entered negative territory for the first time in five years in October, with the overseas sale dipping to $12.8 billion, 12 per cent lower than the $14.6 billion recorded in the corresponding month last year.

The country, according to official estimates, is unlikely to achieve export targets of $200 billion for this fiscal as a result of drying up orders from overseas buyers.

Earlier, Commerce Secretary G K Pillai had said that as per an estimate of the textile ministry, 500,000 workers in the sector might lose jobs by March 2009.