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It appears that the Marshfield‑Wood
County economy continued to expand during the third quarter of 1989. Almost
every indicator of performance was positive and strongly suggests that the area
and county should continue on an upward path unless the cooling national economy
dampens matters. Moreover, it would be unrealistic to expect an economy to
expand indefinitely. Supply and demand constraints will at some point in time,
limit the rate and extent to which an area can grow.
Wood County nonfarm total
employment grew by 560 positions or a modest 1.5 percent during the past year.
The service sector established an all‑time record level for employment adding
820 positions. However, manufacturing, trade, and construction were slightly
below last year's levels. The CWERB's Marshfield Employment Index also rose by
1.5 percent. Thus, the bureau estimates that local employment expanded at the
same rate as county employment. (Table 7)
Retailer confidence is presented in
Table 8. Local merchants believe that store sales and
traffic are about the same as last year. This quarter's readings are
significantly below those of June 1989. With regard to the future, a similar
story is told. Moderate optimism is being expressed with regard to expected
sales and traffic. This information gives insight into the condition and likely
direction of the important retail sector.
Help wanted advertising in the
Marshfield area declined
by about 11 percent from a year ago (Table 9). This
parallels the decline at the national level. However, it should be noted that
the 217 reading indicates there are approximately twice as many jobs being
advertised as in 1980. Thus, the data in Table 9 indicate that the rate of job
growth should not exceed that of last year.
Public assistance is another measure
of economic performance which provides a unique perspective into local family
financial distress. Total caseload in the area contracted by nearly 17.1
percent. The decline over the past three years has been dramatic. However, the
number of new applications remains unchanged from last year. Another gauge of
financial distress are unemployment claim data. Sharp declines in initial and
total claims underscore the improvement made in the area economy. However, this
does not mean that an expansive economy can reach everyone. In such cases other
remedies may be needed to address the situation. (Table 10
and
Table
11)
Residential construction is an
important indicator of future economic activity. The
Marshfield
area experienced a very strong third quarter as construction activity reached a
fever pitch. Residential permits issued, the estimated value of new homes, and
the number of housing units were all substantially higher than a year ago. A
major apartment project accounted for approximately 40 of the housing units.
Only alteration activity and its value were lower than last year's totals.
Overall, this was one of the strongest periods on record. (Table
12) Nonresidential construction during third quarter significantly added to
the local capital stock. Nonresidential construction is highly volatile due to
the nature of such projects thus no percentage changes are given. (Table
13)
Bank deposits were virtually
unchanged from a year ago (Table 14). This is the first
time since the CWERB has been examining the local situation that deposits have
contracted in the sample. Lending activity on the other hand increased by about
$10 million. As a matter of fact, the lending figure reached and all‑time high
regardless of the time of year.
Table 15 and
Table 16 provided basic economic data on
Clark County. Total nonfarm
employment grew by 170 positions or 2.25 percent and now stands at 7710. The
unemployment rate in Clark County rose to 6.0 from 4.6 percent. Mitigating the
situation is the fact that the rise in the unemployment rate is accompanied by
rising employment. That is, the labor force is growing at a somewhat faster pace
than the number of jobs. |
