US GOVERNMENT SPENDS MOST PER RESIDENT IN VIRGINIA

Virginia, home to major Navy and Marine bases and several suburbs of the nation's capital, topped all states in per capita federal spending last year, the Census Bureau reported last week. The federal government spent $5,953.71 per resident in Virginia in 1988, moving it past Alaska to claim the top ranking. Second in 1988 was New Mexico with federal spending of $5,751.54, moving it up from fourth a year earlier.

Alaska slipped to third, with federal spending totaling $5,193.29 per resident.

At the other end of the scale was Michigan, ranking last with per capita federal spending of $2,543.17, according to the report: ``Federal Expenditures by State for Fiscal Year 1988.''