ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, March 26, 1996                TAG: 9603260081
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-3  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press 

FAMILY INCOME DROPS IN VA.

Annual median household income in Virginia decreased by $2,702, or 6.6 percent, from 1992 to 1994.

In 1992, Virginia's median household income was $40,349 (in 1994 dollars, adjusted for inflation). In 1994, the median household income was $37,647.

Nationally, the median household income - the amount midway between the top and bottom household incomes - also dropped between 1992 and 1994, but only by $97, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Virginia was hurt most by federal government cutbacks.

Newport News Shipbuilding, a major contractor for Navy warships and Virginia's largest private employer, has announced 12,000 layoffs since 1992. Post-Cold War defense cuts have forced the layoffs, but the shipyard is winning new civilian contracts. The shipyard also may be in line to build a new Navy attack submarine beginning in 1999.

The state also lost 12,500 military jobs through such cuts as base reductions from 1992 through 1995.

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