U.S. Steel said Thursday the 10,000 laid off steelworkers that president and CEO Mario Longhi said could be called back to work because of optimism created by Donald Trump’s election referred to an industrywide total and not to U.S. Steel.

The Pittsburgh company said federal jobs numbers indicate more than 16,000 steel industry workers have been laid off since January 2015 because of unfairly traded imports.

In an appearance on CNBC Wednesday, Mr. Longhi said Mr. Trump’s victory created “an environment of positive optimism.” Many business have hailed Mr. Trump’s win and Cabinet selections, saying the promise of lower taxes and less regulation will create jobs.

Mr. Longhi told the network the optimism could lead to the recall of close to 10,000 workers in the industry.

U.S. Steel’s statement did not provide a figure for how many of the company’s employees have been laid off or have had their jobs eliminated because of Mr. Longhi’s Carnegie Way cost-cutting and efficiency program.

In April, U.S. Steel disclosed it was laying off 25 percent of its North American nonunion workforce, but did not put a number on how many employees would be released. A month earlier, it laid off 770 workers at its troubled tubular division, citing weak conditions in the energy market.

U.S. Steel announced in November 2015 it was idling its Granite City, Ill., plant. About 2,000 employees at the mill received layoff notices. Earlier last year, the company permanently halted steel production and most steel finishing operations at its plant in Fairfield, Ala. The decision meant the loss of about 1,500 jobs.

U.S. Steel’s annual reports indicate the company had 21,000 North American employees at the end of last year, down from 23,000 in 2014 and 26,000 in 2013.

Mr. Trump’s election has lit a fire under U.S. Steel’s stock. Its shares have jumped 78 percent since the Nov. 8 election. They closed Thursday at $37.37, down 12 cents.

Len Boselovic: lboselovic@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1941.

First Published: December 8, 2016, 3:56 p.m.
Updated: December 9, 2016, 3:04 a.m.