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

DATE: SATURDAY, September 11, 1993                   TAG: 9309130306
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN BUSINESS

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. - Fieldcrest Cannon Inc. said Friday its board of directors has approved a voluntary early-retirement program for salaried employees.

To qualify, employees must be at least 55 by Nov. 1 and have a minimum of 20 years of service. About 400 of Fieldcrest's more than 2,200 salaried employees are eligible.

Fieldcrest Cannon operates a towel mill in Henry County.

- Associated Press

Economy's sluggish, not computer sales

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The computer chip industry on Thursday recorded its longest - and strangest - boom cycle since 1980, confirming that semiconductor sales for August surged ahead for the 22nd consecutive month, pushed primarily by robust sales of small computers.

That's the longest expansion since a record 39-month uninterrupted boom that ended in May 1980 and beats a 21-month romp that ended in August 1988.

The prosperity stands in contrast to many U.S. industries that report sluggish market demand for their products. Historically, the semiconductor industry has moved with the broader economy. - Knight-Ridder/Tribune

Wholesale prices of gasoline falling

Wholesale gasoline prices continued downward Friday, following crude oil to its lowest level in three years.

And nothing short of solid production cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will reverse the trend, energy experts said. The cartel is scheduled to meet Sept. 25.

In Friday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, unleaded gasoline contracts for October delivery hit a low of 47.1 cents a gallon as October crude oil contracts fell to $16.36 a 42-gallon barrel, down 61 cents from Thursday. - Journal of Commerce

Jobless benefits duration to be cut

WASHINGTON - The government is cutting by up to half the number of weeks that laid-off workers can receive extended federal emergency unemployment benefits.

The cut, mandated by Congress, takes effect Monday. The reduction affects unemployed workers applying for additional benefits under the federal emergency program after exhausting their state unemployment insurance.

Newly laid-off workers will continue to get full benefits, usually lasting 26 weeks, under the state programs.

When Congress amended the unemployment insurance act last year, it ordered the extended federal payments reduced if the national jobless rate fell below 7 percent over a two-month period.

The rate fell to 6.7 percent in August from 6.8 percent a month earlier. - Associated Press