Hundreds have lost their jobs as prominent mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar continues to feel the strain of a not-quite-booming resources sector.

Following the news earlier this year that 170 people have lost their jobs from Caterpillar’s Tasmanian base, word comes this week that 240 people will be dropped from the company’s Pulaski facility in the US state of Virginia.

The cuts to international staff come just months after the company announced its 2013 profit forecast would be slashed due to a 43.5 per cent drop in Caterpillar’s second-quarter earnings.

"There's no question there's a slowdown. But long-term ... mining is a great place to be," Doug Oberhelman, Caterpillar's chairman and chief executive said at the time.

Caterpillar’s decision can be seen as the end result of a contraction in spending by larger mining companies.

Groups such as Rio Tinto have cut back on their capital spending, bunking-down to weather weaker financial times.

Decisions by major miners mean that demand for new Caterpillar equipment will drop, and the company says this is the prime reason for the job cuts.

“This shift in production will allow us to streamline the [Tasmanian] manufacturing footprint and focus on the production of underground mining machine models that are largely used within the Australian market,” Caterpillar facility manager Dan Barich said.