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The results for the area are mixed this quarter. Some
indicators of economic performance were very good. On the other hand, some were
weaker than one would have hoped to see. However, with the state and national
economies appearing to be picking up a lot of momentum this should bode well for
the local economy.
Table 7 gives a detailed presentation
of Wood County employment change by major industrial sector. This data is
compiled by the government from a survey of business firm payroll data. Total
nonfarm employment is estimated to have declined by 0.4 percent from last year.
Declines in manufacturing employment continued to be a drag on the economy; it
was down by 5.4 percent from last year. Also, trade has declined by an
estimated 2.8 percent over the period. It is clear that problems associated
with the paper industry in south Wood County are driving these results and are
also influencing the trade numbers. However, the good news is that just about
every other sector in Wood County experienced a decent amount of job expansion.
For example, transportation and utilities, education and health services,
leisure and hospitality, and information and business all posted job gains.
Retailer confidence in Marshfield is presented in Table 8.
This panel believes that store sales were ahead of last year's pace but traffic
was deemed to be lower. In contrast, this group was quite optimistic about
future level of sales and store traffic. Given the importance of retail
activity, it would bode well for the economy if their forecast materializes.
Help wanted advertising is a good barometer of labor market conditions (Table
9). The index for the Marshfield area declined from 65 to 56 over the past
twelve months while the national index remained virtually unchanged. The index
for the Marshfield area indicates that the labor market was not as strong this
year compared to last year. With the national and state economies forecasted to
expand, improvement in the local labor market may be in the offing.
Table 10 presents some good news for the area in terms of
a reduction in family financial distress. Public Assistance claims on a monthly
average basis declined from 104 to 91 or about 12.5 percent in our year over
comparison. More good news comes in Table 11.
Unemployment claims in Wood County are much lower than one year ago. New claims
on a weekly average fell from 359 to 279 for a percentage decrease of 22.3.
Likewise total claims dropped sharply from 1,670 to 1,247 or by 25.3 percent.
Perhaps these measures of local family distress signal a more robust economic
situation in the near future.
More good news is reported in Table 12. Residential
construction in the area was significantly higher than last year at the same
time. The number of new residential permits rose by 157 percent and the
estimated value of the construction expanded by 205.9 percent. The number of
housing units rose from 9 to 71 or by nearly 700 percent. Residential
alteration permits issued, however, fell from 103 to 86 and the estimated value
of this activity declined by 14.2 percent.
Table 13 lists nonresidential construction in the
Marshfield area. Percentage changes are not given because of the volatile
nature of this type of activity. The number of permits for new structures was 2
and their value was estimated at $580 thousand. Business alteration permits
reached 16 and the value associated with this activity was $1.5 million.
Table 14 and
15 presents data on Clark County. The major points of
significance in the tables are as follows. Total employment expanded by an
estimated 3 percent over the past twelve months. All business sectors expanded
to some degree. The only exception to this was educational and health services,
government, financial activities, and construction and natural resources. In
addition total employment based upon a household survey suggests that total
employment expanded by 0.6 percent. Lastly, the unemployment rate declined to
6.9 percent and the total number of unemployed dropped from 1,080 to 1,007. |
