
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 6, 1990                   TAG: 9003061819
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BRIEFLY . . .

Sales of domestic cars and light trucks fell 7.9 percent in late February, dimming hopes that a sales surge at the beginning of the month had signaled an end to the automobile industry's sales slump.

\ First Fidelity Bancorporation announced plans Monday to cut its work force by about 10 percent, or 1,400 workers, as part of a plan to reduce its expenses by $115 million a year. The job cut follows a smaller round of layoffs late last year.

Flue-cured tobacco farmers and buyers each will be assessed one cent per pound for the 1990 crop, the Agriculture Department said Monday. The total of two cents per pound is down slightly from last year's total of 2.24 cents.

by CNB