The results pertaining to the Wood county and Marshfield economy were very good for Second Quarter 1999.  As the reader goes through the report they will notice that almost all measures of economic well being have improved since last year.  In sum the local economy continues to participate in the state and national expansion. 

     Industrial sector employment (Table 7) expanded by 900 positions in Wood county.  This represents a solid gain of 2.1 percent from last year.  Given the tight labor market conditions, this increase becomes even more impressive.  The services sector was by far and away the largest factor in the growth.  Services added 900 and trade 100 jobs to the local economy.  Manufacturing is estimated to have declined by 100 people.  Further, government and construction employment levels were unchanged over the period.  For the Marshfield area the CWERB index estimates a 2.9 percent gain in local employment.

     Due to the entrance of large retail operations into the local market, the retail scene in Marshfield is undergoing major transformation.  Our panel of Marshfield merchants indicated in the CWERB quarterly poll (Table 8) that sales and store traffic were slightly better than a year ago.  This group is forecasting that sales and store traffic will be marginally better next quarter.

     Help wanted advertising (Table 9) is at a very high level.  The CWERB barometer of the labor market suggests that there are three jobs being advertised for each job in the base year.  Clearly, many of these job advertisements are from firms located outside the Marshfield area.  Nonetheless, it shows that labor market conditions are tight throughout the state of Wisconsin and firms are searching the state for qualified workforce.

     Public assistance (Table 10) in Wood county on a monthly average basis declined from 2,485 to 2,455 or 1.2 percent.  The public assistance claim figures include AFDC, MA, and food stamps.  Another measure of local family financial distress is unemployment claim data (Table 11).  Here, too, we see improvement taking place in the numbers.  New claims on a weekly average basis in Wood county fell by 10.8 percent and total claims contracted by 10.3 percent over the period.

     Residential construction (Table 12) is an important barometer of the economic health of an area.  However, another major determinant of this activity is of course population growth.  For Second Quarter the number of residential permits issued was about the same as last year, but their value increased by a healthy 13.6 percent.  Residential alteration permits fell from 78 to 47 over the past twelve months.  The value of this activity declined by 16.8 percent.

     Nonresidential construction (Table 13) is inherently volatile, thus no percentage changes are given.  This activity usually represents large building projects.  The number of permits issued was 22 and the value was estimated to be $1.02 million.  Business and government alteration activity generated 6 permits with an estimated value of nearly $600 thousand.

     Table 14 presents financial data for the Marshfield area.  Bank deposits reached $328.7 million and lending climbed to $274.3 million in Second Quarter 1999.  In November 1998 a bank merger took place which affected deposit and lending numbers in the area.  Thus, numbers after the merger are not comparable to pre-merger figures.  By the end of the year, comparability will once again exist.

     The Clark county economic data in Table 15 shows that manufacturing and trade expanded by 3.4 percent and 14.9 percent respectively.  Trade expanded during the period by a scant 0.7 percent.  Services and government payrolls are estimated to be 2.7 percent and 2.5 percent lower than a year ago.  In Table 16 the reader can see that the unemployment rate fell from last year and is now down to 4.5 percent.  Lastly, the total number of people employed in the county increased from 16,380 to 16,560, or 1.1 percent.