|
The highlights from this section of the report
are as follows. Unemployment rates have risen in the three counties.
Central Wisconsin total employment has risen
from 148.3 to 149.1 thousand or by 0.5 percent since last year. Similarly,
total nonfarm employment grew by 0.5 percent. Sales tax collections were up
from a year ago in Portage and Marathon counties while
collections fell in Wood County. Business
executives throughout the region see little change taking place in the area
economy over the next several quarters.
Unemployment rates were significantly higher
than a year ago (Table 2). The June 2006 seasonally
unadjusted rates for Marathon,
Portage, and Wood counties were 4.7, 4.9, and 5.6 percent respectively. The
labor force weighted unemployment rate for Central Wisconsin increased from
4.7 to 5.0 percent of the past twelve months. Likewise, the rate for the
state of Wisconsin rose from 4.8 to 4.9 over the same period. However, the
U.S. unemployment rate declined from 5.2 to 4.8 percent since June 2005.
Better news comes from the state's survey of
households (Table 3). The state estimates that total
employment rose in Wood and Marathon
counties, 1.4 and 0.7 percent respectively. Only Portage
County registered a slight decline, 0.6 percent. Overall,
Central Wisconsin's total employment figure
rose from 148.3 to 149.1 thousand, a gain of about 0.5 percent. At the same
time, Wisconsin and the United States added 1.5 and
1.9 percent to their payrolls, respectively.
Another measure of employment is constructed
from the payroll records of employees (Table 4). Total
nonfarm employment rose by 0.5 percent over the past year in
Central Wisconsin. Approximately, 700 net
new jobs were created in the area. All industrial sectors except for
construction and manufacturing posted gains during the past twelve months.
Manufacturing employment in the three counties is estimated to have declined
by approximately 1,000 positions; fall from 30.4 to 29.4 thousand positions.
A measure of retail activity is the sales tax
distribution figures presented in Table 5.
Portage and
Marathon counties sales tax
figures increased by 8.0 and 6.0 percent respectively from second quarter
2005. Wood County collections, however,
are estimated to have declined slightly, down by about 2.3 percent. The sales
tax data for Wood County also corresponds to the
decline in the merchants sentiments about retail activity, Table 8.
The CWERB conducts quarterly surveys of
business executives in the three -county region (Table 6).
These surveys indicate little change in the national and local economies over
the quarter. When asked about future conditions respondents felt the national
economy would deteriorate and the local economy would be relatively unchanged
in the months ahead. They also believed that their particular field would
experience a marginal improvement in activity. However, in broad terms, the
levels of optimism expressed in the June 2006 survey were below the levels
expressed in March 2006. |
