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The Virginia Business Index 'or the month of July, 1966, io be distributed shortly, will :ontaln the following information.
The Flint Six Months of 1966
The first six months of this fear was a good period for justness in Virginia except foi lew car sales and the availability of mortgage money for private housing. The cumulative January through June figures for 1966, In comparison to the same period In 1965, show bank debits up 15.7 per :ent, electricity consumed up 11.5 per cent, newspaper advertising lineage up 6.4 per :ent and retail sales up 4.1 per cent. Additionally, nonigricultural employment in Virginia appears to have established a new high during the period. Based on incomplete data, at this time, nonarm employment is up 4.2 per cent. If the final figures sustain this extrapolation, non igricultural employment will lave reached a record high in the period. New car registrations are down approximate y two per cent in the January through June, 1966 to 1965 :omparlson. But, this figure ttonceals more than it reveals. A strong surge in new cars registered in June, due to a very early implementation of promotional campaigsn to sell pff existing inventories of the soon to be superseded models paused the six months average to obscure the trend. In only one other month, March, was there a year to year gain in Virginia. The final and most revealing figure in a comparison of 1966 to 1965 for new car registrations must wait for the August figures. During the period, the availability of mortgage money for private hopsing continued to decline. This situation began Its overt development in the last half of 1965 and became apparent locally in the Spring i and early Summer of 1966. j At this time there is no workable solution to this problem in sight, according to Pro'essor Gilbert C. Jones, Director of the Bureau of Business Research, College of Wil liam and Mary.
Summary for June
Business in June in comparison to the same month in 1965 was highlighted by a good gain for retail sales anc an impressive plus in new car registrations. The gain in the new car registrations over June of 1965 must be subject to two very important considerations. Due to a work backlog at the Department of Motor Vehicles in May some of that month’s sales were picked up in the June figures Additionally, this year the year-end sales of the 1966 models are about one to two months prior to the norma time for such marketing activity. Retail sales in Virginia for June, especially for sea
87.7%