Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 14, 1995 TAG: 9509140065
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"The rate of expansion ... changed little," according to the Fed's 5th District contribution to the Beige Book, the Federal Reserve's periodic summary of the nation's 12 regional economies. It was released Wednesday.
The outlook is for continued strength here and in West Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas and District of Columbia. And it is a good time to take a trip, the monthly report said.
Hotels, motels and resorts told federal survey takers they predict no change in prices for six months. Tourism-oriented businesses expected a better fall than last year - welcome news, they said, after Hurricane Felix and tropical storms drove off visitors last month.
Farmers' fortunes drooped. Hot, dry weather faded prospects for a good soybean, cotton and peanut crop. Corn, however, will probably pull through. Carolina tobacco harvests were below-average in size and quality. Here and there, pastures tended toward the brown side.
In South Carolina, the Southern pine beetle destroyed $70 million worth of pine timber. Floods damaged other crops.
Temporary workers and longshoremen were busier than in July. Resident and commercial real estate brokers had their usual work load. Lenders approved slightly more consumer and business loans but fewer mortgages.
A basket of groceries, a gift in a department store or a new stereo system not only went up slightly in price, but did so at a faster rate than in July. Consumers spent a tad less in the region's stores, however.
by CNB