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RALEIGH (AP) - North Carolina lottery ticket sales growth is slowing down due to the bad economy, but the lottery's chief executive said Wednesday the state enterprise will get its own kind of stimulus package soon in the form of new games.

The $400 million in ticket revenues from July through the end of November represent 34 percent growth from the ticket totals for the same period a year ago.

But November sales figures fell about 9 percent compared to October, lottery executive director Tom Shaheen said. That contrasts with 7 percent growth in lottery sales from October to November 2007, according to lottery data.

Shaheen said people aren't spending as much on lottery tickets or weren't willing to go inside convenience stores to play when they saw recent high gasoline prices. Scratch-off ticket sales saw the largest decline.

"You went from $4 a gallon gas (to) the holiday season," Shaheen said during a break in meetings of the North Carolina Education Lottery Commission.

"They're still playing, I just don't think they're buying as often."

Year-to-date revenues are much higher than last year because the Legislature agreed in 2007 to allow the lottery to allocate a greater percentage of sales to prizes, making the tickets more attractive to players.

Those changes didn't take full effect until early this year.

Shaheen said he believes the lottery can still reach its projected ticket sales of $1.27 billion for the 12 months ending next June 30.

That would also generate $385 million in profits toward state education programs, school construction and scholarships. The amounts would be records for the lottery, which began selling tickets in March 2006.

To reach those goals, Shaheen said, the lottery soon will release new games and promotions, including a $5 scratch-off game with lots of prizes and a $3 ticket based on the Monopoly board game. A previously successful game with Harley-Davidson motorcycles also will be reintroduced, he said.

The full lottery commission also agreed Wednesday to begin a new 4-digit daily numbers drawing in September, but Shaheen said it could be introduced as early as the spring.

The lottery already has the Carolina Pick 3 and Carolina Cash 5 games. North Carolina also participates in the multistate Powerball game.

The commission agreed to extend its contract with WRAL-TV by another three years to produce and air number drawings, lottery spokeswoman Pam Walker said.

The drawing broadcasts are distributed throughout the state. WRAL provides promotions about the games in exchange for receiving a sizable portion of lottery TV ads in the Raleigh-Durham market.

The commission also asked lottery employees to draft a policy about how to translate game instructions and marketing materials at sales locations into Spanish, Walker said.

The policy is important because it would need to comply with a provision in the 2005 lottery law barring advertising that would "intentionally target specific groups."