The Marshfield‑Wood County economy experienced much growth and development over the past twelve months. For example, the unemployment rate fell to a very low 3.1 percent during Fourth Quarter. Similarly, total employment expanded by 3.1 percent. In addition, the nonfarm sectors posted a gain in their payrolls of 2.8 percent. Many other economic indicators were positive such as the help wanted advertising index and residential construction. 

     Wood county industrial sector employment is presented in Table 7. Every sector except for construction grew over the past twelve months. Manufacturing and services added 500 and 800 persons to their respective payrolls. Trade and government jobs increased by 200 and 100 respectively. The Marshfield Employment Index rose from 158.5 to 165.0 or 4.1 percent form a year ago. This is solid evidence that the local economy participated in the county's growth. 

     Table 8 shows that local merchants fell that store traffic and sales were about the same as last Christmas season. Suggesting that the holiday season activity was somewhat soft. When this group was asked to forecast the future direction of the store activity they expressed the opinion that matters would be moderately better over the next several months when compared to last year. It should be noted there has been a decided downward trend in their level of optimism since 1994. 

     Help wanted advertising in the Marshfield area has leveled off (Table 9). The index was virtually unchanged from a year ago. Nonetheless a 211 for the index is a relatively high mark from a historical standpoint. The U.S. figure for help wanted advertising actually dropped over the course of the year which usually signals a slowdown in job creation. 

     Due to the computerization of records, compatible public assistance figures for Marshfield were not available for Fourth Quarter (Table 10). Over the course of time compatible numbers will become available and included in future reports. 

     Table 11 presents unemployment claim data for Wood county on a weekly average basis. New claims fell from 93 to 81 or 12.9 percent from last year. In contrast total claims rose from 165 to 206 or 24.8 percent from last year. It should be noted the increase, to an undetermined degree, is accounted for by a change in collection procedures. In other words, data are now being collected on a county wide basis rather than just for Marshfield. As time passes the problem in comparability will vanish. 

     Good news comes to the area in the foam of residential construction activity
(Table 12). All categories of activity were higher than last year. The number of permits was 11 with an estimated value of $1.1 million. The number of residential alteration permits was 29 with an estimated value of $242 thousand. Given the harsh winter weather the results were encouraging for the area.

     Table 13 presents the nonresidential construction figures for Marshfield. The number of permits was 7 and their value was estimated to be $881 thousand. Further, the number of business alteration permits was 11 and their value is estimated to be $2.9 million. Nonresidential construction activity is volatile from year to year; hence, no percentage changes are given. 

     Table 14 presents financial statistics for the Marshfield area. Bank deposits rose from $234.3 million to $286.7 million or about 22 percent from last year. Lending activity also accelerated at a fast pace climbing from $186.1 million to $226.2 million or again, a healthy 22 percent. These numbers suggest that the Marshfield area economy has expanded over the past twelve months. 

     Clark county data are presented in Table 15 and Table 16. Highlights for Clark county are as follows. Industrial sector employment in Table 15 increased from 8,482 to 8,966 or by 5.7 percent from a year ago. Further, the unemployment rate fell from 7.9 to 5.9 percent over the year, see Table 16. At the same time, total employment rose from 14,726 to 15,600 or 5.9 percent. Thus, this important market area for Marshfield area businesses experienced a marked improvement in its economy over the course of the year.