The Wausau area economic indicators were for the most part very positive in their portrayal of the local situation. The unemployment rate is at a very low 3.1 percent. In addition, total employment grew by about 2.3 percent over the period. By in large, almost all other measures, whether bank statistics or unemployment claim data, etc., tell a similar story about the overall health and soundness of our local economy.

     Excellent news also comes to the greater Wausau area in terms of industrial sector job growth (Table 7). It is estimated that a 3.8 percent gain was registered for the Wausau‑Marathon county area over the past twelve months. Manufacturing lead the expansion by adding 1,000 jobs. The services and trade firms each added 700 new openings, while at the same time government and construction payrolls were almost unchanged over the year. Thus, employment continues to grow in the local area, and has done so since the early 1990's.

     The CWERB poll of Wausau area merchants suggests that store traffic and sales have marginally exceeded the levels of one year ago (Table 8). Also they expect store traffic and sales three months from now to be markedly better than in 1997. Even though this group remains upbeat in their assessment of local conditions, their level of optimism has been trending lower since about mid 1996. This is especially true for their expectations about future retail activity.

     Help wanted advertising in Table 9 shows there has been a 21 point or 13.7 percent gain in local help wanted advertising since last year. The 174 reading means there are 1.7 jobs being advertised for every job in the base year. Of special interest is that help wanted advertising between late 1995 and late 1996 has been trending lower. Since that time period the Wausau area has experienced a rebound in this type of advertising. This bodes well for the area employment situation.

     The implementation of the state of Wisconsin's W2 plan has had a great impact on the general assistance claim data for Marathon county (Table 10). The number of claims has become incredibly low for both new claims and total caseload. Thus, economic forces alone are not the only factor affecting the results. Moreover, the total caseload of just 12 for this quarter pales in comparison to the over 80 claims of just a few years ago.

     More good news comes from the unemployment claims data for Wausau
(Table 11). Even though new claims rose by 18 cases, the number is quite low compared to historic figures. Moreover, total claims actually fell by 36 cases. Total claims have been trending sharply lower since late 1995 when they exceeded 2,500, as compared to the 1,367 of today. Once again this bodes well for the local scene.

     Residential construction activity results were somewhat mixed for 4th Quarter (Table 12). Residential permits were a marginal 2.7 percent higher, but their estimated value fell by 33 percent compared to last year. Meanwhile, the number of housing units was almost unchanged from last year. However, alteration activity grew by an estimated 11.3 percent but its value dropped by nearly 24 percent. Given that last years construction numbers were so good, it does not come as a surprise that the activity of this year would be hard pressed to exceed last years marks.

     Nonresidential construction was booming during 4th Quarter (Table 13). The number of permits issued was 14 and they had an estimated value of $8.1 million. Two of the bigger projects were an office building complex and a new grocery store. Likewise there is good news to report for alteration activity. New alteration permits hit 52 and they are estimated to have a value of $10.1 million. Projects of note include alterations to a local church, a business property, and the county jail.

     Financial statistics for the area are listed in Table 14. New deposits grew by a very strong 13.1 percent or $159.8 million over the year. Additionally bank lending in our sample of local financial institutions increased by $120.9 million or 11.7 percent. These numbers surely testify to the fact that the Wausau area economy is vibrant and is stih in an expansion mode.