REGIONAL ECONOMIES….

Economic statistics on the seven federal districts or super-regions that Putin decreed into existence this spring are now available. The fastest-growing district is the northwest, centered in St. Petersburg. The slowest-growing is the trans-Volga district, centered in Nizhny Novgorod. Aggregated regional results for the first half of 2000 show more industrial growth and lower unemployment than national results published earlier. The bean-counters at Goskomstat have some work to do.