DAYTON — The U.S. lost more than a quarter of its high-technology manufacturing jobs in the past decade, imperiling the nation’s “global lead in science and technology,” according to a report released Tuesday by the National Science Board.

Ohio lost 29 percent, or 32,300, of its high-tech manufacturing jobs, from 2001 to 2010, a National Science Board spokesman said, while the nation lost 28 percent, or 687,000, of its high-tech manufacturing jobs.

Part of the loss stems from U.S. firms establishing research and development jobs overseas at a faster pace than in the United States, the report’s authors said. Since 2004, about 85 percent of all R&D employment growth in U.S. multinational companies has been overseas, the report said.

That change reflect “the rise of new players on the world stage,” said Jose-Marie Griffiths, science and engineering indicators chairman for the National Science Board.

The report’s authors stressed that the U.S. retains its top position in aerospace and pharmaceutical high-tech manufacturing jobs. And they said that R&D spending is growing in the U.S., although at a slower pace compared to overseas growth.

“We have no indication that these (losses) are transfers of jobs out of the United States,” Rolf Lehming, director of the NSB’s Science and Engineering Indicators Program, emphasized in a conference call Tuesday.

These are well-paying “research-intensive” jobs involving “practical applications, new products, or (new) processes,” the study’s authors said.

In 2010, the median income for workers in science and engineering jobs ($73,290) was more than double the median income for all U.S. workers ($33,840).

The report also pointed to a growing emphasis by students from abroad on engineering and natural sciences. Chinese students earn seven times as many university degrees in engineering and science today than American students, Lehming said.

“I could see that happening,” said Ann Gallaher, chief operating officer of Technology First, a Dayton-based group of corporate chief technology officers and other executives who lead technology-intensive companies. “U.S. colleges are getting more and more international students.”

However, security considerations may prevent U.S. companies — or U.S. government contractors — from hiring those international students, who may end up working overseas if they can’t find jobs in America, Gallaher said.

Peter Morici, a business professor with the University of Maryland, argues that companies are forced to manufacture overseas because “they block our (U.S.) exports” to them.

He believes the U.S. needs to address “currency manipulation” that makes it more expensive to produce in the U.S. and other trade obstacles.

He also suggested that U.S. do more to require patent development here.

Tuesday’s report comes three months after a similar report from the Tech- America Foundation, which said Ohio’s high-tech industry lost 1,400 jobs in 2010, jobs that paid an average $68,000 per year.

Ohio still ranked 12th in the nation with nearly 163,000 high-tech jobs, the TechAmerica Foundation report said.