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

DATE: TUESDAY, September 20, 1994                   TAG: 9409230005
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ROANOKE VALLEY ECONOMIC INDICATORS

The August inflation rate was 0.3 percent, which translates into an annual rate of 3.6 percent in consumer prices, matching the average inflation rate in the last 12 years.

That rate, generally termed modest, nonetheless has wiped out nearly a third of consumers' purchasing power in that period, said Mark Vitner, economist with First Union Corp. in Charlotte, N.C. If it continues, he said, it will destroy half of consumers' purchasing power by 1999.

The August Consumer Price Index stood at 149 points compared with 148.4 in July and 144.8 a year ago. That means goods and services costing $144.80 a year ago now require an outlay of $149.

by CNB