VA. JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE AT YEAR END

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

DATE: SATURDAY, January 23, 1993                   TAG: 9301230105
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short
VA. JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE AT YEAR END
Initial claims for unemployment compensation rose sharply in December as expected, as construction and other seasonal work suspended for the winter, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Friday.
Initial claims jumped 71 percent to 42,154 from November's 24,588 but were 35.5 percent below the level in December 1991, VEC economist William F. Mezger said.
A year earlier, the number of claims jumped 93.2 percent, from 33,851 in November to 65,386 in December. In 1990, before the recession took hold in the state, claims rose only by 44.6 percent in the corresponding months.
Year-end furloughs in 1992 appeared to be the lightest in five years, the VEC said. Also, many seasonal employers were able to work longer than usual because of mild weather conditions in December.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB