ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, March 28, 1997                 TAG: 9703280065
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-5  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON

ROANOKE VALLEY WORK FORCE GROWS 3.6% DURING 1996; RATE IS MIDDLING FOR VA.

The number of area people working in January was estimated at 141,200.

Employment in the Roanoke metropolitan area grew 3.6 percent between January 1996 and January 1997, state labor officials said Thursday.

The Virginia Employment Commission estimated that the number of area people working stood at 141,200, up 4,900 from a year earlier. Trade employment - at retailers and wholesalers - rose 2,500, or 6.9 percent; services employment increased 1,600, or 4.1 percent; and construction jobs increased 900, or 13 percent.

The data, for Roanoke, Salem, Roanoke County and Botetourt County, placed the region fourth of eight metros in the state in terms of job growth. The figures are estimates based on information from about 7,500 of the state's 140,000 employers.

The fastest growth came in Northern Virginia, in business and professional services, construction and manufacturing. The region had 2,100 of the state's additional 2,800 manufacturing jobs during the year covered by Thursday's report, the Virginia Employment Commission said.

LENGTH: Short :   31 lines
ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC:  Chart by RT: Employment in Virginia Metro areas. 
KEYWORDS: MGR