Our regional economy continues to perform well. This is evidenced by the decline in the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate, the increase in regional payrolls, the improvement taking place in industrial sector hiring, and gains registered in sales tax collections. However, regional business leaders were a bit more pessimistic with regard to recent economic changes at the national and local levels. 

     The seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate fell in Portage and Marathon counties over the course of the year (Table 2). The rate stands at 4.9 and 4.8 percent respectively for each county. Thus, the downward trend in the unemployment rate continues for these counties. However, the Wood county rate is estimated to have an increase from 5.0 to 5.4 percent. This breaks a two‑year decline in First Quarter unemployment rates for Wood. Overall, the Central Wisconsin unemployment figure now stands at 5.0 percent, compared to the 5.3 percent of last year. Similar declines were registered for the state and nation. 

     Total employment growth in the three‑county area was positive but modest (Table 3). Portage, Marathon, and Wood added 0.9, 0.3, and 1.6 percent to their respective payrolls in a year overall comparison. A tight labor market locally and at the state level will most likely restrict the future growth of payrolls. For Central Wisconsin, jobs expanded by 0.9 percent which compares to the 0.8 percent growth registered for the state. 

     Better results were registered for the industrial sectors listed in Table 4. All sectors reported decent gains in employment from last year. Trade and services lead the expansion rising by 3.9 and 3.1 percent respectively. The construction and manufacturing sectors were also active this quarter adding 2.3 and 1.2 percent to their payrolls. Government sector employment remained almost unchanged, rising by a scant 0.5 percent. Overall, the industrial sectors in Central Wisconsin grew from 131.1 to 134.3 thousand. 

     Table 5 presents county sales tax distribution data for Portage and Marathon counties. Here we see that sales tax collections rose by a healthy 5.1 percent for Portage and 4.0 percent for Marathon. Sales tax data gives important insight into the local retail trade sector. However, not all transactions are subject to sales tax. For example the activity of nonprofit organizations is not included. Nonetheless, by examining this data we are able to gauge the activity level of a particular case. 

     Our survey of regional business executives shows a decided decline in the assessment of recent changes at the national and local level (Table 6). The hike in interest rate and the decline in the nation's financial markets at the time this survey was taken most likely heavily influenced the results. However, this panel is still optimistic with regard to the future direction of the economy. This is especially true for the thing they know best, their own particular industry. This of course is a positive indicator of the future direction of the regional economy.