THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 1, 1995 TAG: 9504290224
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Talk of the Town
TYPE: Opinion
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
One barometer of where people think the jobs are appears in Hotaling's News on 42nd Street in Manhattan. New Yorkers often peruse the store's supply of more than 200 out-of-town newspapers.
``Lately, we've seen a lot of people coming in to buy the Atlanta, Houston, San Jose and Dallas newspapers,'' sales clerk Marvin Cohn said.
With scant job growth in metro N.Y., Hotaling's sells up to 1,000 out-of-town papers a day. But how accurate is Hotaling's as a barometer? The results are mixed.
The Economic Outlook Center at Arizona State University tracks job growth in 288 metro areas. The center recently reported February job gains compared to a year earlier.
Among big cities, Phoenix led the nation with 7.04 percent more jobs, followed by Atlanta (6.03 percent), Northern Virginia (5.06 percent), Kansas City (4.73 percent) and Tampa (4.57 percent). Metro New York posted a 0.43 percent gain, placing 265 among all metros.
Closer to home, Richmond ranked 37th with 4.93 percent more jobs in February. Charlotte finished 48th (4.66 percent) and Raleigh-Durham placed 103rd (3.55 percent). Hampton Roads, which a year earlier finished dismally close to New York in 238th place, pulled up to 78th place in February (4.01 percent).
Newport News plans an enterprise zone around United Parcel Service's proposed 840-employee package tracking center.
KEYWORDS: EMPLOYMENT HAMPTON ROADS by CNB