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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 24, 1993                   TAG: 9303240324
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

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IN BUSINESS

Virginia pays record benefits to jobless

RICHMOND - Virginia paid $483.9 million in unemployment benefits in 1992, breaking a record set the previous year, the Virginia Employment Commission said.

The 1992 benefits topped 1991's by 45.4 percent. They were boosted by $154.6 million in emergency compensation paid by the federal government to Virginians whose state benefits had expired.

State unemployment exceeded 7 percent in January and February 1992 and topped 6 percent until October. The maximum benefit also grew last year from $198 a week to $208 a week for 26 weeks.

The state's unemployment compensation trust fund declined for the second consecutive year, from $567.7 million at the end of 1991 to $498.2 million at the end of 1992. - Associated Press

First Union to help low-income projects

First Union Corp. has pledged $2 million to a statewide community development program to finance rental housing projects for low-income, elderly and disabled residents through the Housing Equity Fund II, administered by the Virginia Community Development Corp.

Edward E. Crutchfield, chairman of First Union, said the Charlotte, N.C.-based company promised to be more community-minded when it acquired Roanoke-based Dominion Bankshares Corp. - Associated Press

RTC auction brings 54 percent recovery

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The bidding was fast and furious Tuesday, but the offers were often low as the Resolution Trust Corp. began auctioning a record $500 million in defaulted or delinquent loans from failed thrifts.

The 98 loan packages brought in $142.7 million, a roughly 54 percent recovery rate on their listed value of about $261.6 million. Another 94 packages were scheduled for auction today. The RTC, which oversees the federal bailout of failed thrifts, will use the money to cut the $84.5 billion estimated cost to taxpayers. - Associated Press

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