DATE: Tuesday, October 14, 1997             TAG: 9710140430

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

                                            LENGTH:   40 lines

REPORT OFFERS ROSY OUTLOOK FOR VIRGINIA HAMPTON ROADS WILL HAVE 117,000 NEW JOBS BY 2007 AND PURCHASING POWER WILL INCREASE STATEWIDE, A COLLEGE STUDY INDICATES.

Virginia's economy will continue to grow in 1997, ease slightly in 1998, but come back for a strong performance for the rest of the decade, according to a report from the College of William and Mary.

``It's an optimistic report,'' said professor Roy L. Pearson, director of the college's Bureau of Business Research, which published the report.

Among highlights for the rest of 1997 are a 5.9 percent rise in personal income and addition of 81,126 jobs across the state.

Next year, though, Virginia's income growth is likely to decline by one-half percent from the previous year, and payroll job growth will average 2.2 percent.

``Even though we would be ebbing in 1998, we're still growing faster in jobs and income than the nation,'' Pearson said.

Based on information from the Virginia Employment Commission, the bureau predicts Virginia will add 642,000 new jobs from 1997 to 2007, making the next 10 years the ``Decade of the Worker.''

The Hampton Roads metropolitan statistical area will gain 117,000 new jobs by 2007, an 18 percent increase.

More important than the new jobs, ``we'll see the real purchasing power of those paychecks going up,'' Pearson said.

Locally, that power will be seen in a 34 percent increase in real income per person, compared to the state's 22 percent increase for the next decade. But gaining that power will depend on the ability to use computers and technology in the workplace.

``We see information technology at use everywhere,'' Pearson said. ``You go to get your car repaired and see it plugged into a computer.'' ILLUSTRATION: Statewide Forecasts for 1998

For complete copy, see microfilm KEYWORDS: ECONOMY HAMPTON ROADS STUDY

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