BUSINESS MEMO: END OF SUMMER

Labor Day marks the traditional end of summer, and motorists traveling over the holiday weekend will find nationwide gas prices for self-service regular unleaded up 18 cents over the last year. According to AAA's national gas price survey, the average price nationwide is $1.26.

In a survey in St. Louis, the AAA-Auto Club of Missouri found the average price of self-service regular unleaded to be $1.15, up 16 cents from 1998.

The survey showed the average price in Missouri to be $1.14, up from 94 cents last year. Gas prices in California is as much as 40 cents higher than in Missouri.

Regional prices for self-service regular unleaded are: West, $1.42; New England, $1.27; Great Lakes, $1.24; Mid-Atlantic, $1.23; Southwest, $1.21; Midwest, $1.20; and Southeast, $1.17.

AAA estimates that 34.8 million people will travel more than 100 miles from home during the Labor Day weekend, up 2 percent from last year.