MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)--Mexico's textile and apparel exports to the U.S. fell by 16% in 2009 to $4.14 billion compared with the previous year, the National Textile Industry Chamber said.

The figures, based on U.S. government statistics, put Mexico far behind leading exporter China, and trailing Vietnam and India, the chamber said Monday at the close of a general assembly meeting.

Employment in the textiles industry was nearly flat in December from a year earlier at 97,200 jobs. But apparel jobs fell 6.8% to 277,500, according to the industry chamber.

Chamber President David Garcia Cosio said textiles and apparel firms are ready to grow again after last year's overall economic downturn.

Garcia said more flexible labor rules reached during recent contract negotiations with unions, and a coming promotional program--Mexico-Fits--in Mexico and the U.S. should help the industry recover this year.

Economy Minister Gerardo Ruiz Mateos told assembly attendees that Mexico's textile industry is positioned to benefit from domestic economic growth this year estimated at about 4%, and to recover its lost exports to the U.S.

With government and industry working together, he said, Mexico could take its place as "a global textile power."

-By Laurence Iliff, Dow Jones Newswires