Measured from one year ago, the Central Wisconsin economy moved forward, albeit at a very modest pace. One factor to consider in this scenario is the extreme weather conditions residents experienced this last winter. On several occasions the mercury dropped below minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit interfering with mobility, outside work, increasing heating bills and, in some cases, causing businesses to curtail activities or even shut down for brief periods. 

     Evidence to suggest that economic matters were also frozen to some degree follows. Unemployment rates in the area were stuck at around 6.6 percent during the past year. Total employment was virtually unchanged from March of 1993. Further, key sector employment grew by a scant 400 jobs, or 1.4 percent, with all growth coming from one sector. Better results can be reported for Central Wisconsin's industrial sectors. Here growth was at an annual rate of 2.2 percent with 2700 jobs being added to regional payrolls. 

     Central Wisconsin's seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates are presented in Table 2. Portage County's rate fell from 6.6 to 6:4 percent over the course of the year. Meanwhile, the unemployment rates in Marathon and Wood Counties rose by 0.1 and 0.5 points respectively and now stand at 6.7 percent in each county. The overall labor force weighted, seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate for Central Wisconsin increased from 6.5 to 6.6 percent over the course of the year. The United States rate came down to 7.1 percent, but is still much higher than the 5.6 percent rate of Wisconsin. 

     Employment in the area grew over the course of the year in both Portage and Marathon Counties (Table 3). Portage added a modest 300 positions, while Marathon County added an estimated 400 jobs. Wood County, however, fell off the meager pace established by the other two counties when it registered an estimated employment loss of 900 positions. For Central Wisconsin, as a whole, employment fell from 134.9 to 134.7, a decline of 0.1 percent. In contrast, the state added 3.6 percent to its payrolls and U.S. employment increased by 2.9 percent. 

     Better news is reported in Table 4. Industrial sector employment rose from 122,410 to 125,100, a 2.2 percent growth rate from last year. The greatest expansion in terms of raw numbers and percentage change came in the service sector. This sector added 2160 jobs growing by 5.0 percent. Trade and government employment were the two other sectors to experience some growth, showing increases of 700 (2.5 percent) and 600 jobs (3.6 percent) respectively. In contrast, manufacturing and construction payrolls were slightly lower by 300 and 460 positions each. 

     Table 5 shows this quarter's results for key Central Wisconsin Industries. Only finance, insurance, and real estate expanded over the period, and more importantly, by a very health 6.8 percent or 600 jobs. Paper products, lumber and wood products, and food processing employment stagnated over the past year. Overall, thanks to finance, insurance, and real estate Central Wisconsin employment in the key sector industries grew by a net 400 positions bringing total employment in these four categories to 28.4 thousand. 

     Business people in the area report that national and local economic conditions have improved somewhat over the past twelve months (Table 6). When the CWERB questioned this panel about the future of the economy, the responses given were less optimistic than three months ago, but were still positive in nature. The most upbeat responses related to the economic outlook and expectations for their particular industries.