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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 30, 1994                   TAG: 9403300153
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

. . . BUT SHOPPERS TRUST

Consumers' confidence in the economy jumped this month to the highest level in nearly four years, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The business research group said its latest reading of consumers' faith in the U.S. economy was a strong sign that ``we may well be on the way to a sustained and reasonably vigorous economic expansion.''

Its index of consumer sentiment rose from 79.9 points, February's revised reading, to 86.7 in March, the highest reading since July 1990. The index, calculated on a 1985 base of 100, is derived from a monthly survey of consumers nationwide that assesses their willingness to borrow and spend money.

Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of the U.S. economy.

- Associated Press

by CNB