THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606200445
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 30 lines
Growth in the Hampton Roads economy has ground to a halt, slowed by weak federal government employment and reductions in the shipbuilding industry.
The Hampton Roads Economic Performance Index in April remained at 105.2, according to David G. Garraty, an economics professor at Virginia Wesleyan College who publishes the index.
April's mark is familiar territory for the index - it has remained at 105.2 for the past three months. The Economic Performance Index is weighted against the economy from 1991 to 1993, which was assigned a 100.0 mark.
Not only is the local economy lagging behind the Virginia and national economies, Garraty said, but it is facing an increased risk of shrinking later this year.
``Our unemployment rate is lower than the nation's and that's good,'' Garraty said, ``but what really puts bread on the table is jobs, and we're lagging the nation and Virginia in that.''
Part of the problem is that the federal government employed 2,700 fewer people in April than it did a year ago.
That trend is expected to continue with further federal downsizing, including the pending shutdown of NADEP.
One positive note: Service sector employment, although growing slower than the two previous years, was up 1.4 percent over April 1995.
And financial, insurance and real estate employment was up 3.6 percent over last year's level. by CNB