Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 3 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
Although the Commonwealth closed out 1986 with relatively steady, moderate growth in the state’s economy, Virginia is entering 1987 with less momentum than at the start of last year, according to the latest issue of the Virginia Business Report, published monthly by the Bureau of Business Research at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.
“The Virginia economy grew more slowly in 1986 than in 1985, as expected,” Roy L. Pearson, editor of the report and director of the bureau, said recently.
Hie leaders among the state’s eight metropolitan areas in non-agricultural employment during the first quarter of 1986 were Northern Virginia, Bristol and Hampton Roads.
As the year progressed, Northern Virginia continued to score at the top of the metro areas in job growth, but the rate of expansion slowed to 5.3 percent by the third quarter.
Significantly, the dominant growth pattern in the second half of 1986 was in the non-metropolitan areas of the state. For both the third and fourth quarters (figures through November 1986) the rural areas of the state outstripped growth from the Commonwealth’s eight metropolitan areas.
For the third quarter growth in the non-metropolitan areas was 5.3 percent versus 3 percent in the eight urban statistical areas. In the fourth quarter (through November) growth
84.8%