WASHINGTON (AFP) - US daily newspapers slashed some 1,300 jobs in 2013, extending the steady declines over the past decade, a survey showed Tuesday.

The cuts left around 36,700 full-time daily newspaper journalists at nearly 1,400 newspapers in the United States, according to the survey by the American Society of News Editors and the Center for Advanced Social Research.

The survey found that racial and ethnic minorities made small gains - an increase of around 200 jobs to make up 4,900 or 13.34 percent of newsroom jobs last year.

The percentage of minority journalists has remained between 12 and 14 per cent for more than a decade, according to the survey.

ASNE said its goal is to have the percentage of minorities reflect the overall US population - currently around 37 per cent.

Overall newsroom employment remains on a downward trend.

The number of jobs peaked in 1990 at 56,900, dropped over the next few years and then rose to nearly that level in 2000, at 56,400, according to the survey.

The numbers have been falling steadily since 2007, reflecting the struggles of print newspapers as more Americans get their news from online sources.