The Wausau area economy had a strong Second Quarter in 1996. The overall foundation of the economy appears to be on firm ground. For example, the unemployment rate is at or near record lows for the time of year. Total employment is higher by approximately 8.7 percent or 4,800 positions from last year, see Table 1. These numbers speak volumes about the resiliency of the local economy and to a very large degree the surprising persistence of the national economy. 

Earlier in the report it was stated that growth of over 4.0 percent in terms of GDP has had a positive impact on the area's employment situation (Table 7). This impact has been felt in Marathon county. Industrial sector employment rose by almost 3.0 percent from a year ago, or about 1,800 positions. Thus, Marathon county employment has now reached a record 83.4 thousand people. 

Retail activity is the final step in the economic process (Table 8). Retail sales give valuable insight into the job and income circumstances facing local residents. Thus, any assessment of the local economy should include this indicator. Local merchants remained very optimistic with regard to recent activity levels. Further, they are equally upbeat concerning amount of activity they expect to take place in the next three months. 

Another indicator of the direction of the economy is help wanted advertising
(Table 9). The index for this year is approximately 13 percent lower than last year. However, the index still remains at an elevated level. Case in point, the 200 reading tells the reader there are twice as many advertisements for employment as in the base year of 1980. Thus, we can expect local payrolls to continue to grow over the next several quarters. 

Public assistance claims data in Table 10 are for general assistance requests. Even though the state's W2 plan has not gone into effect at the time of this report, case workers have been putting extra effort in placing aid recipients into jobs. The rationale being that since a major change is likely to occur in the way public assistance is to be handled, it would be prudent for recipients to move off assistance as soon as possible. 

Table 11 shows that unemployment claims have fallen by a great deal in the year over comparison with 1995. A healthy local economy provides for a more stable job situation and it also generates additional opportunities for individuals. As evidence of the health of our economy, new claims contracted from 385 to 193 and likewise total claims declined from 2,528 to 1,508. 

Table 12 presents the residential construction numbers for Second Quarter. the number of new permits was 70 with an estimated value of $7.7 million. This activity represents 78 new housing units for the local community. Residential alteration activity as of late has been very brisk. This quarter was no exception to this trend. The number of residential permits reached 353 up from 313 of last year with an estimated value of $1.9 million.

Nonresidential construction was quite strong for the area during Second Quarter (Table 13). This type of activity is notorious for being volatile, however, it appears this years results were much ahead of last years. The number of permits was 20 with an estimated value of $8.1 million. In addition, the number of business alteration permits reached 72 with an associated value of $8.5 million. This amount of activity bodes well for the future of our local area. 

Financial statistics are another barometer of how an economy is performing
(Table 14). Deposit and lending expansion are associated with employment and income growth. For Second Quarter 1998, the Wausau area financial institutions in our sample added nearly $98 million to deposits for a healthy growth rate of 9.2 percent. Lending also increased by a large amount, $53 million or 5.8 percent.