ROANOKE VALLEY ECONOMIC INDICATORS

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

DATE: TUESDAY, March 9, 1993                   TAG: 9303090338
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
ROANOKE VALLEY ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Retail sales in the Roanoke Valley tracked those nationally at the end of 1992, boosted by stronger consumer confidence and the seasonal push during the holidays.
Shoppers in the metro area spent $537.1 million in last year's fourth quarter, according to the Virginia Department of Taxation, which compiles the statistics as it collects revenue from the state's sales taxes. That's up a healthy 12.4 percent over third-quarter sales of $477.9 million. But compared with the fourth quarter of 1991's $521.1 million, the 3.1 percent gain was barely more than the impact of inflation.
Other new figures added this week to the regional economic indicators show:

The number of business bankruptcies filed in February, 26, was up 8.3 percent over January 24. The most recent number was 13 percent higher than a year earlier, 23.

The value of checks cleared by banks at the Roanoke clearinghouse was $30,427,597 in the week ending March 5, up 18 percent over the previous week's $25,841,953. The indicator, which measures the velocity of change in the economy, was down 74 percent from $118,425,136 from the corresponding period a year earlier. In the past year, however, some area banks have begun clearing checks in Richmond rather than at regional clearinghouses.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB