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The results for this
quarter are as follows. Total nonfarm payroll expanded by 1.9 percent from a
year ago in Wood County. Paper
manufacturing in Wisconsin continues to experience declining payrolls. Help
wanted advertising is lower than a year ago. Public assistance and unemployment
claim data paint a mixed picture of local family financial distress.
Manufacturing wages after a number of years of decline are finally increasing in
the state. Lastly, the Wood County economy is showing
early signs of an economic rebound.
Total nonfarm
employment estimates from the state of Wisconsin are based on data provided by
employers (Table 7). Total employment in Wood County expanded by 1.9 percent
from a year ago. The trade, transportation and utilities, education and health
services, leisure and hospitality, and government sector payrolls have expanded
over the past twelve months. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector was estimated
to have declined by 700 positions over the same period. The construction,
financial activities, and information and business employment levels were all
unchanged from a year ago.
Figure 1 shows that paper manufacturing employment in Wisconsin has
contracted from about 41.5 thousand to around 36.5 thousand positions from 2003
to near the end of 2006. This represents a decline of about 13.7 percent over
the three year time frame. It is clear that the important papermaking industry
has experienced difficult economic times. Worldwide overcapacity and strong
foreign competition have been the driving forces behind this unfortunate
outcome.
Table
8 gives the CWERB help wanted advertising index for Wisconsin Rapids. In
2005 the index for Wisconsin Rapids stood at 135, in 2006 the index declined to
102 or by 24 percent. This index is a barometer of labor market conditions and
suggests the likely trend in future employment levels. This U.S. index was also
lower over the same period. Thus, the national labor market appears to be
cooling down somewhat.
The CWERB help wanted
index shows that Marshfield area advertising stands at 93 for June 2006. One
year ago the index was at 105. This indicates a possible slowdown in the hiring
plans of local businesses relative to a year ago. The U.S. index was virtually
unchanged over the course of the year. Even though help wanted advertising only
captures a small part of the job market, it is nonetheless a good barometer of
labor market conditions and is highly correlated with unemployment levels.
Table
9 presents the Wood County public assistance
figures. On a monthly average basis, the total caseload declined from 85 to 75
or by 11.8 percent. Another measure of local family distress is given in Table
10. New unemployment claims in Wood County increased from 208 to 236 or by 13.5 percent in a year over basis. In
contrast, total claims declined from 1,393 to 1,291 or by 7.3 percent over the
same period. Thus, we get somewhat mixed signals as to the condition of family
financial distress in Wood County.
Figure 2 shows the weekly average earnings in the manufacturing sector.
Good news can be reported in that the average weekly rate has climbed rather
sharply in the past year and stands at approximately $690. This suggests that
demand has picked up for workers in the manufacturing sector. Given the
importance of manufacturing in the Wisconsin economy and that of Wood County, this is a very good
development.
Figures 3 through 6
give the reader a nice overview of the Wood
County economy. Employment levels in
Wood County appear to be rebounding
nicely from the low point they reached in early 2005 (Figure
3). Likewise, the unemployment level in the county appears to be trending
lower (Figure 4, Figure 5). After
many month of declining labor force figures, there is evidence to suggest that
the number of people in the labor force is on the rise (Figure
6). In sum, Wood County has experience hard
economic times in the early part of the decade. However, there is a glimmer of
hope that economic matters have turned the corner.
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