The local economy sent mixed signals with regard to its vitality in 4th quarter 1992. The seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate, while still low, edged up from 5.7 to 5.8 percent, and total employment, while growing to 62.7 thousand was just 1.3 percent higher than in 1991. Industrial sector employment, for the first time since the early 1980's, failed to expand over the course of the year. However, employment is still at close to record levels for this time of year and the majority of the contraction comes from the highly volatile construction sector. 

     Other indicators are clearer and more positive. Some examples include optimistic retailer confidence levels, a stable help wanted advertising index, dramatic decreases in public assistance and unemployment claims, a solid performance in residential construction and encouraging local financial statistics. 

     For the first time since the early 1980's industrial sector employment has not expanded over the previous year's total (Table 7). The decline, while small (200 positions or 0.4 percent), underscores that the local economy is tied to national events. The good news is that manufacturing payrolls rose by 1300 positions since fourth quarter 1991. Service employment was unchanged, but trade, construction, and government employment fell off the pace of last year. In particular, the number of construction workers declined by around 1000 positions signaling that various building projects have been completed in the area. It should be pointed out that even though industrial sector employment has fallen by a very small margin, the total, 54.6 thousand, is still very close to a historic maximum for the time of year. 

     Retail sector confidence in Table 8 shows that merchants were very upbeat in their appraisal of store traffic and sales in 4th quarter 1992. This indicates that, in the opinion of local merchants, retail activity was brisk when contrasted with last year. Once again, like last quarter, this group is very positive concerning future store traffic and sales. The information in this table is consistent with national data showing that this past Christmas was a good one for retailers and that there has been an improvement in how the general public perceives the future of the country. 

     The job market and employment conditions in the local area are proxied by the information in Table 9. The help wanted advertising index was stable rising by only 3 points from last year. The index shows there are 1.9 jobs being advertised for every one job in 1980. For the first time in a long while, the national index showed improvement rising by 5 points. 

     Excellent news is presented in Table 10 and Table 11. The measures of local family distress found in these tables all declined over the course of the year. The number of new public assistance claims on a monthly average basis fell from 21 to 14 or 33 percent. Similarly the total caseload for public assistance declined from 82 to 67 for an 18 percent drop. In Table 11, initial unemployment claims on a weekly average basis contracted from 532 to 398 or 25 percent. Lastly, total unemployment claims went from 2026 to 1788 for a decline of 12 percentage points. Results in these two tables are indicative of an improving situation. 

     Another indicator of economic vitality is residential construction (Table 12). The local building scene has been bolstered by low interest rates, and a healthy local economy. For 4th quarter 1992, the number of new residential permits issued and the estimated value of new residential construction fell by 40 and 13 percent respectively. This is not surprising considering that 1991 was a very strong period. However, the number of units, the number of residential alteration permits issued, and the estimated value of residential alterations were above the lofty totals of 1991. For the record they were 13, 1.3, and 26.6 percent higher than a year ago. 

     Nonresidential construction activity is depicted in Table 13. As mentioned in previous reports due to the volatile, singular nature of this activity, no percentage changes are given. During 4th quarter 1992 the number of new nonresidential permits issued was 10, with an estimated value of $2,004 thousand. The number of nonresidential business alteration permits was 28 with an announced value of approximately $790 thousand.
 

     The financial statistics for the Wausau area were very positive indicators for the Wausau area economy (Table 14). Bank lending expanded by 6 percent or $41.9 million over the same time last year. Savings, of course, is an indicator of local liquidity and income growth. Bank lending grew by a similar 6.1 percent over the period. This amounted to an expansion in lending from $535.1 million to $567.6 million, a spurt of nearly $33 million.