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ATTLEBORO - Sensor-maker Sensata Technologies announced the elimination of 100 jobs, mostly in Attleboro, on Tuesday and said an additional 50 employees had accepted buyout offers.

The layoffs were effective Tuesday.

Sensata, a major supplier to the housing and automotive markets, has seen a significant sales decline over the past year.

"We've been hard hit," spokeswoman Linda Megathlin said.

Sensata is a former component of Texas Instruments. The layoffs extended across most areas of the business, Megathlin said, ranging from managers and engineers to technicians.

The only area not touched is a small manufacturing component which serves the defense industry.

The company has reduced expenditures over the past year, Megathlin said, including cuts in overtime and travel and discretionary purchases. Sensata also added compulsory plant closings and time off for employees.

The Attleboro headquarters, which once employed more than 1,000 people, now has about 800 workers, Megathlin said.

A total of 65 former Texas Instruments employees who had retired and then transferred to Sensata were offered buyouts in January, and about 50 of those accepted the package.

The layoffs parallel a contraction in the local economy that has seen some companies go out of business or reduce operations and others announce layoffs.

Shaws Supermarkets plans to close its South Attleboro store later this month and failed electronics retailer Circuit City is shutting down all of its retail locations, including one in North Attleboro.

Innovative Spinal Technologies, which had once employed up to 100 workers in Mansfield, recently shut down its medical device plant, and Spherics Pharmaceuticals closed its plant in the Cabot Business Park and auctioned off its equipment last summer.

More than 1,400 Attleboro area workers lost their jobs in December as unemployment rates in local communities rose to between 5.7 and 8.2 percent.