The Wausau area economy generated 2000 jobs over the course of the year. However, the growth in employment was not enough to offset the increase in the labor force, and as a result, the unemployment rate rose two‑tenths of a point. Industrial sector employment grew at a rate of 3.0 percent during second quarter with the services sector, as usual, adding the most jobs, 1100. More evidence of economic development in Wausau is that area merchants have reported increases in store traffic and sales. 

     Additionally, help wanted advertising jumped by 31 percent over the past twelve months, a good sign for future employment in the area. Data reflecting public assistance and unemployment claims filed for the community were not so positive. Generally speaking, both measures were higher than a year ago. Further, residential construction activity was somewhat off the pace established a year ago. Nonresidential construction was likewise lower than for this period last year. Lastly, bank deposit and lending activity surged, however a portion of the increase was due to merger activity conducted by several area financial institutions. 

     Industrial sector employment as presented in Table 7 shows that services, trade, and government sector payrolls expanded by 1100, 700, and 400 persons respectively. In contrast, manufacturing and construction payrolls were lower by an estimated 100 and 400 jobs. On net the industrial sectors added 1700 positions resulting in a solid 3.0 percent gain from one year ago. During second quarter 1994 there were 58,100 people employed in these categories for Marathon County. 

     Retailer confidence levels which are displayed in Table 8, have remained very upbeat over the period since first quarter. The index comparing store traffic with the same period last year stands at 73 with the figure for sales coming in at 72. These marks suggest a high degree of satisfaction with retail activity. The merchants went on to tell the CWERB that they expect an even stronger performance in the next three months as compared to last year. Since early 1991 the retailer confidence index has trended decidedly upward in all four categories. 

     Our barometer of local labor market conditions, help wanted advertising, is presented in Table 9. A huge jump in the index occurred over the course of the year. The Wausau index rose from 193 to 252, a 50 point or 31 percent jump in area help wanted advertising. Since late 1991 the index has been trending upward, but this quarter's gain is one of the largest recorded over the time period. This bodes well for local area payrolls. 

     Table 10 and Table 11 give us statistics dealing with local area family financial distress. New public assistance claims on a monthly average basis did not change from a year ago, remaining constant at 11. Total caseload rose slightly from 70 to 78, for an 11 percent gain. Total caseload figures have been rising since mid 1993. In Table 11, new public assistance claims rose from 323 to 362, or 12 percent on a weekly average basis since second quarter 1993. Moreover, total claims also rose over the same period, rising from 2100 to 2262 or by nearly 8 percent. Thus, the results in Table 10 and 11 indicate an increase in local area financial distress over the course of the year. 

     Residential construction figures in the Wausau area are listed in Table 12. Residential permits issued, the estimated value of new construction, and the number of housing units were lower by approximately 11, 10, and 34 percent respectively. On the brighter side, residential alteration permits issued and the estimated value of residential alterations rose by approximately 24 and 99 percent. Thus a mixed picture is painted with regard to construction, but in general, new home construction is somewhat off the pace of a year ago and even that of two years ago. Higher interest rates are probably playing a major role along with the inevitable satiation of demand for housing. 

     Table 13 displays the results of this quarter's nonresidential construction activity in the area. The number of permits reached 9 with an estimated value of $1.27 million. Additionally, the number of new business alteration permits reached 45 with and announced value of $3.6 million. Given the volatility of business investment from year to year, no percentage changes are given in these categories. 

     Financial statistics for the area are given in Table 14. This sample of area financial institutions shows a huge jump in bank deposits and loans. Deposits rose from $748.3 to $956.8 million or 27.3 percent since second quarter 1993. Similarly, bank lending rose from $598.4 to $793.7 million or 32.6 percent. However, a word of caution when interpreting the numbers, because of merger activity by area financial institutions, the numbers for deposits and loans are not directly comparable to those of second quarter 1993. Thus, the reported large increases are not necessarily related to increases in economic activity per se, but to acquisitions. The problem of comparability should be eliminated by second quarter 1995.