ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: TUESDAY, July 11, 1995                   TAG: 9507110065
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ROANOKE REGIONAL ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Retail sales in the Roanoke metropolitan area grew sharply in this year's first quarter compared with corresponding periods for the past two years. The Virginia Department of Taxation reported the region's taxable sales for the first quarter totaled $513.1 million, an increase of 7.3 percent from $478.1 million last year and up 8.1 percent from $474.5 million in the same period of 1993. However, sales were off 21.8 percent from $656.4 million in last year's fourth quarter, a period when sales often are their highest. 


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