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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 22, 1993                   TAG: 9312220132
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

VA. JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE 16% IN NOV.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose 16 percent last month but were 1.5 percent below the levels for November 1992, the Virginia Employment Commission reported.

The November count was the lowest for the month in six years.

The state agency said 24,229 newly unemployed Virginians filed claims for jobless benefits in November, up from 20,884 in October but down from 24,588 in November 1992. The previous November low was in 1987, with 22,841 claims.

Claims "normally rise substantially in November as paving and other types of outside work complete their seasons and resorts along the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway close for the winter," the agency said. Also, many of the claims are due to plant closings related to Thanksgiving furloughs.

by CNB