Alexandrias restaurants and hotels continue to impress city economists but the housing market and unemployment rates remain grim, according to the financial report released Tuesday night at City Hall.
    
Chief Financial Officer Bruce Johnson called the citys travel and visitor rates healthy, based on tax receipts compared to last year. Retail is also undergoing a slight uptick, he said, though some of the numbers are still out.
    
The annual change in the meals tax has also recovered from bad times and is up in the positive area again, so lodging and entertainment, that part of Alexandria is doing well, Johnson said.
    
Home sales remain extremely slow, Johnson said, and the citys foreclosure rate is the highest its been in more than two years mostly concentrated in condos in the West End.
    
Still, Alexandria is doing relatively well, with the second lowest rate behind Arlington County, Johnson said.


Alexandrias unemployment rate, though far better than the 10 percent national average, remains at a historical high for the city, sitting above 4 percent, Johnson said.