The counties of Central Wisconsin continue to move forward. Most of the indicators tell a story of how our region continues to grow and prosper from an economic standpoint. We have very low rates of unemployment in our region and the amount of job generation has been outstanding for most sectors of the economy.

     The unemployment rates throughout Central Wisconsin rose ever so slightly from last year (Table 2). The rates of 3.8, 3.1, and 3.8 percent, however, are extremely low. Further, the regional labor force weighted unemployment average was just 3.4 percent. Wisconsin's unemployment rate was unchanged from last year and stands at just 3.0 percent. In contrast the U.S. rate was much higher at 4.4 percent, but nonetheless the rate declined from its previous year level of 5.0 percent.

     Central Wisconsin's total employment grew by an estimated 1.7 percent over the past twelve months (Table 3). Portage county payrolls were virtually unchanged from last year, dipping lower by just 0.8 percent. However, Marathon and Wood counties registered gains of 2.3 and 2.5 percent since last year. The state expanded its number of jobs by a surprisingly robust 4.0 percent. The U.S. meanwhile added about 2.3 percent to its employment.

     Industrial sector employment is displayed in Table 4. Trade, services, and manufacturing added 2,500, 1,200, and 1,100 people to their respective payrolls. The growth rates associated with these marks were also just as impressive. However, oonstniction and government employment in the region was estimated to have contracted by 200 and 500 jobs respectively. Overall though industrial sector employment expanded by about 3.0 percent in the region.

     The most noticeable surprise in this quartets report is the slight decline in sales tax distribution for Portage and Marathon counties (Table 5). Perhaps the declines in the retailer survey over the past year in Portage and Marathon, though the marks are still in the positive range, might indicate some softening in retail activities. However, another factor to consider is that there could have been a deviation in the sales tax distribution schedule on the part of the state. If that is the case, we would expect to see a surge in next quarters results.

     The CWERB business confidence survey of area executives indicates that as far as this group is concerned they expect very little change to take place when it comes to national and local economies (Table 6). Moreover, this sentiment carries over to their assessment of their particular industry. Given the health of the overall economy, the results indicate that this group expects the economy to stay on track in the quarters ahead.