ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, April 4, 1997                  TAG: 9704040037
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-7  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON THE ROANOKE TIMES 

RUBATEX, HANOVER LAYOFFS BLAMED VALLEY HAS A BIT LESS WORK

An estimated 4,300 people were looking for work in February, compared with 3,810 a year earlier.

Unemployment stood at 3.3 percent in February in the Roanoke metropolitan area, up from 3 percent a year earlier, state labor officials said Thursday.

The job market tightened in large part because of previously announced layoffs at two of the region's major employers - Rubatex Corp. and Hanover Direct Inc. - said Bill Mezger, senior employment commission economist.

Rubatex, based in Roanoke County, has announced 140 layoffs at its rubber-making plant in Bedford; Hanover Direct, a New Jersey catalog merchant, has announced 380 layoffs at its telemarketing and warehouse facilities in Roanoke and Botetourt counties.

An estimated 4,300 people living in Roanoke, Salem, Roanoke County and Botetourt County were looking for work in February, the VEC said Thursday. That figure was up from 3,810 in February 1996.

Also, 1,040 people were receiving jobless benefits. That figure was virtually unchanged from a year earlier.

Fairfax posted the lowest jobless rate in February in the state, 1.6 percent. Lancaster County had the highest rate, 25.6 percent. The state's jobless rate of 4.4 percent was the lowest for the month since the February 1990 rate of 4.2 percent.

LENGTH: Short :   36 lines
ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC:  Chart by RT: Unemployment rates.