NOT FOR RELEASE UNTIL
SUNDAY, JUNE 11


VIRGINIA'S METRO AREAS FALLING BEHIND GEORGIA AND 
NORTH CAROLINA IN PRIVATE SECTOR PAY 


      CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., June 11 -- Virginia is falling behind
North Carolina and Georgia in private-sector pay, according to a
recent study conducted for the  Urban Partnership by urban policy
analysts with the University of Virginia.
      The "Economic Competitiveness of Virginia's Metropolitan
Areas" study conducted by William H. Lucy and David L. Phillips,
professors of urban and environmental planning at U.Va.'s School of
Architecture, will be one of the major topics at the Urban Issues
Forum to be held June 15 in Norfolk.  Here are some of the
comparative findings:
      *  Earnings per employee in the private sector in North
Carolina increased more that six times faster than in Virginia in
metropolitan areas located wholly within each state between 1970
and 1990. 
      *  Earnings per private employee increased in Raleigh-Durham,
N.C., by 11.9 percent and in Charlotte-Gastonia, N.C., by 11.6
percent, compared to a 2.1 percent decline in Virginia's Norfolk-
Virginia Beach-Newport news area and 3.7 percent increase in the
Richmond-Petersburg area over the period.
      *  U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis projections through the
year 2020 show five of six North Carolina metro areas increasing in
real earnings per private job, while five of six metro areas wholly
in Virginia are projected for declines, relative to the Southeast
region as a whole.  The Charlottesville area is the only Virginia
region expected to see private sector earnings increase at a rate
better than the average in the Southeast.
      *  The three most populous metropolitan areas in North
Carolina (Charlotte-Gastonia, Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point
and Raleigh-Durham) outperformed the three most populous
metropolitan areas wholly within Virginia (Norfolk-Virginia Beach-
Newport News, Richmond-Petersburg and Roanoke) substantially in
measures of total employment, private employment, non-farm earnings
per capita and earnings per private sector employee.  Virginia's
metro areas were close to North Carolina's only on the measure of
increase in personal income per capita.
      Furthermore, Lucy and Phillips noted that if the growth of the
Washington, D.C. area should falter, as it may well do with the
reduction of federal employees, "Northern Virginia may not prop up
Virginia's economic performance in the future like it did from 1970
to 1990."
      "Virginia needs to invest more in transportation and
education, and reform the governance of its metropolitan areas if
it's going to compete with North Carolina for high-paying jobs,"
Lucy and Phillips concluded.
      The study was conducted for the Urban Partnership as part of
the ongoing research on Virginia's urban problems and was funded by
the Virginia Commonwealth University Center for Urban Development. 
The Urban Partnership is a coalition of business and government
leaders in 17 urban localities and Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
      The complete study examined earnings trends in 59 metro areas
in 14 Southern states between 1970 and 1990.
                                      ###

                                                                 June 11, 1995

REPORTERS:  For interviews or additional information on the study,
call William Lucy at (804) 924-4779.  For further information on
the Urban Partnership or Urban Issues Forum, call Neal Barber at
(804) 644-1607.

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