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The
Marshfield area economy held its own during the past twelve months. Most
economic indicators were positive. For example, the unemployment rate was much
lower than a year ago at this time, total employment for the county increased,
and job gains were recorded in most of the industrial sector categories. Other
highlights include upbeat comments from area merchants, and overall improvement
in unemployment claims data.
Indicators that were not as robust in a year over comparison include residential
construction activity and area financial statistics. Further, the wet and cold
weather of this past growing season has placed an additional financial burden on
area farmers and their pocketbooks.
Industrial sector employment for Wood County rose by 1130 positions since third
quarter 1992 (Table 7). This gain of 25 percent was
distributed in the following manner. Services, trade, and construction payrolls
rose by 1030, 300, and 200 positions respectively. In contrast, manufacturing
and government sector employment contracted by 300 and 100 jobs. The Marshfield
employment index rose from 142.8 to 146.2 indicating that area payrolls expanded
during the past twelve months.
When we look back in time to the mid 1980's, it is clear that the fastest
growing sectors in the
Wood
County
economy have been services and trade. These sectors expanded by 38 and 28
percent respectively. In comparison, manufacturing employment has been almost
constant, and government employment has increased by only 10 percent during the
same time period.
Merchants in our Marshfield retailer survey believe that store traffic and sales were
stronger in September 1993 than at the same time last year
(Table 8). Further, their optimism exceeds that expressed in June. In
addition, this panel forecasts that sales and store traffic will be much
improved during the up and coming, all important Christmas shopping season.
Since late 1990 there has been a decided upward swing in the level of retailer
confidence.
Help wanted advertising, a barometer of labor market conditions, jumped up by 15
percent from last year (Table
9). Please remember
that the index does not measure all jobs in an area, or the quality of the jobs
being advertised. However, the index is useful in judging labor market
conditions because of the relationship or ratio between all jobs in an area and
those that are advertised. Since mid 1992 the
Marshfield help wanted advertising index has been trending sharply
upward.
Public swift-claim data in Table 10 shows that the number
of new applications on a weekly average basis has been fiat. But, in contrast,
the total caseload increased by 16.2 percent. From a historical perspective,
total caseload, after declining steadily on a seasonally adjusted basis since
the mid 1980'x, has been on the rise since late 1991.
Good news for the area comes from the unemployment claims data for Marshfield
(Table
11). Initial claims
on a weekly average basis fell by 12.1 percent, and total unemployment claims
declined by nearly 31 percent over the year. The long‑term trend shows that both
series have been in decline since early 1992 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Residential construction was off the pace of last year
(Table 12).
The number of permits issued, the estimated value of new residential
construction, the number of housing units, and the number of alteration permits
were lower by 43, 56, 50, and 6 percent respectively. Only the value of
residential alterations was higher by 33 percent. Almost every series on
construction activity has been trending lower on a seasonally adjusted basis
since early 1991.
Nonresidential construction activity is very volatile. Therefore no percentage
changes are given in a year over comparison. The number of permits reached 14
with an estimated value of $578 thousand
(Table 13).
Business alteration permits were 11 with an estimated value of $4.9 million.
Activity at the senior high school is influencing the amount recorded in this
category.
Financial statistics for the local area are given in Table 14.
Bank deposits rose by $.4 million or 0.2 percent from last year. Again it should
be mentioned that banks and other financial institutions have attracted investor
dollars away from deposits with the lure of higher returns on mutual funds. This
fact is well documented in the financial press. Lending activity increased by
$1.8 million or 1.1 percent from last year. Slower growth in residential
construction activity along with financial institutions selling loans in the
secondary market have depressed this figure. Since the mid 1980's bank deposits
and bank lending have been growing at a slow but steady pace.
Table 15 and Table 16 present
Clark
County
economic data. The businesses of Marshfield view this area as part of their
market area and hence the inclusion in the quarterly economic indicators. |
