In sum, the three‑county region, which is comprised of Marathon, Portage, and Wood counties, experienced a continuation in its economic growth. Favorable economic conditions suggests that job and income creation should advance for the remainder of the year for the U.S. and state. Examples of these factors include relatively low inflation and interest rates, booming export growth, and the increased competitiveness of United States business firms. 

     Unemployment rates throughout the state continued on their downward decent. In Central Wisconsin the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate stood at about 2.5 percent (Table 2). Further, Wisconsin's 2.7 percent unemployment rate is well below the 5.0 percent rate of the nation. Thus, labor market conditions are becoming ever more tight in the region and state. 

     Table 3 depicts the situation for total employment in Central Wisconsin. Portage and Marathon expanded by 2.5 and 2.8 percent respectively. Wood county payrolls meanwhile added about 1.3 percent in the number positions. Overall, employment in the area increased by approximately 3,300 jobs, or 2.3 percent in a year over comparison with 1995. The state and nation grew at an identical 1.9 percent over the same period. Many analysts believe that Wisconsin employment growth, which over the past number of years has exceeded that of the nation, will slow and more closely approximate that of the nation. 

     Industrial sector employment is another measure of economic performance that gives important insight into the health of a community (Table 4). All industrial sectors, except construction, expanded from last year. Manufacturing and services grew by 2.0 and 3.3 percent respectively and account for the largest part of the reported gain in industrial employment. 

     A method to proxy economic activity is to examine county sales tax distributions. The date presented in Table 5 has been lagged in order that the data reflect activity in Third Quarter. Portage county distributions surged by approximately 26 percent when compared to last year. Marathon sales tax activity also expanded by a great deal growing by 21.3 percent over the same period. Both sets of numbers suggest that 1996 has been a stronger year than 1995 in terms of the sale of goods and services. 

     The CWERB polls regional business executives about their thoughts concerning changes in economic conditions. The results in Table 6 show the panel's appraisal of recent economic changes at the national and local levels. In both instances the business leaders fell that matters had only slightly improved. Even less optimism was expressed with regard to the future direction of economic conditions at the national, local, and industry level. Thus, in their opinion, significant positive or negative changes are unlikely over the next three months.