The Central Wisconsin economy continued to demonstrate strength and vitality during first quarter 1988. Even though job creation slowed when compared to the 1986-1987 time period, recent gains were still very respectable. Unemployment rates were dramatically lower in all three counties. (See Table 2.) The Central Wisconsin unemployment rate for first quarter 1988 is the lowest registered since the Central Wisconsin Economic Research Bureau began tracking this indicator.

     Table 3 gives information on total regional employment. Marathon County led in job creation by posting a 5.0 percent gain. Portage and Wood counties experienced more modest employment growth rates of 1.4 percent and 2.4 percent respectively. Thus, growth was somewhat uneven in the region. Manufacturing has been the major driving force behind the recent surge in regional, state, and national job creation. Several plant closings in Wisconsin Rapids had a dampening influence on the Wood County numbers and Portage County, which is not as dependent on manufacturing as Marathon or Wood, is less susceptible to the ups and downs of the manufacturing business cycle. Nonetheless, first quarter regional employment levels are at a decade high.

     Table 4 presents employment change by sector. The impact of the lower dollar on area manufacturing is evident. Manufacturing jobs spurted forward by 8.2 percent.

     This is a very substantial increase. As a matter of record, the number of manufacturing jobs is the highest in a decade for first quarter. Likewise, service and trade payrolls have achieved record levels. Only construction and government employment are below last year's totals. Construction employment was affected by the slow emergence of spring weather vis-a-vis last year. Moreover, government employment has been fairly stagnant over the past several years. During the 1985 to 1988 time period employment in this category grew by a total of only 1.9 percent.

     Key sector employment numbers are presented in Table 5. All sectors reported increases except for lumber and wood products which was down by approximately 200 positions. Food processing experienced a healthy gain of nearly 14 percent. This sector is at a decade high level for the reported time of year. The same can be said for finance, insurance and real estate employment which has been on the upswing for the past several years. Operational successes at major regional insurance companies have played a leading role in this turnaround. Overall, the key sectors represent nearly 25 percent of all non-farm employment in the area. This underscores the central role these industries play in regional economic development. Overall, key sector employment increased by 800 positions or 3.2 percent from last year.

     Table 6 gives the business confidence index for Central Wisconsin. The stock market crash of October 19, 1987 is fading from the minds of regional business executives. Optimism is emerging. When asked about recent changes in national and local conditions, executives responded more favorably than in December. With regard to expected changes in the national economy, moderate improvement was anticipated by the group. However, local conditions are forecasted to strengthen at an even faster rate. It should be noted that, although business leaders still expect conditions in their industries to improve, expectations are not as high as those expressed in December.