The Wausau area economy continues to do well from an economic standpoint.  The economic boom that has carried the nation to a record long expansion, has also carried the Wausau area economy into the year 2000 on a strong note.  Most barometers of local economic conditions were positive in nature and suggest the area is on firm ground going into the year 2000.

     Industrial sector employment expanded by an estimated 2.5 percent from 4th Quarter 1998 (Table 7).  Services and trade posted large growth rates of 4.8 and 4.0 percent respectively.  Manufacturing added 0.5 percent during the same period.  Government payrolls were unchanged and the number of persons engaged in construction activity declined by about 3.1 percent.  As of December 1999 there were nearly 70 thousand people employed in these categories as compared to 68 thousand a year ago.

     December retailer confidence in the Wausau area was slightly above that of September (Table 8).  Local merchants indicated that store sales and traffic during the important December selling period was very good.  This group is forecasting that store traffic and sales will be markedly better when compared with the same period a year ago.  Again this is an indication that the economy is moving forward in the local area.

     Help wanted advertising in Table 9, while a bit lower than last year, remains at a very elevated level.  This is a good development for local job seekers.  However, it should be pointed out that firms from all over the state are advertising in an attempt to find qualified workers.  Thus, the index also serves as a barometer of the wider state job market.  The index of 198 suggests that there are nearly 2 jobs being listed for each one in the base year.

     Unemployment claim data for the Wausau area is lower than a year ago
(Table 10).  This is another signal that matters are going well for the local economy.  New claims on a weekly average basis declined by 4.3 percent.  In addition, total unemployment claims declined by 3.7 percent.  In absolute terms total claims have declined from 1,174 to 1,131 over the past twelve months.

     One of the few negatives for this quarter's report comes from residential construction figures in Table 11.  It should be pointed out, however, that the last several years have been very strong for construction in the local area.  The number of residential permits issued fell by 9.3 percent and the estimated value of this activity declined by 14.3 percent from last year.  Meanwhile, the number of housing units was the same as last year.  Lastly, residential alteration permits contracted by about 16 percent, and the value of this residential alteration activity declined by 12.7 percent.

     Nonresidential construction (Table 12) is presented without percentage changes due to the volatility of this type of activity.  The number of permits issued was 9 and the estimated value was pegged at $6.4 million.  With regard to alteration activity during the 4th Quarter 1999, 64 projects were started, with an estimated value of nearly $7.0 million.  Major new construction projects include a convenience store/car wash and a new elementary school building.  Major alteration activities include the expansions of a local broadcaster and a manufacturer of electrical motors, etc.

     Financial statistics for the Wausau area are given in Table 13.  Our sample of local financial institutions indicates that bank deposits fell from $2,079.0 million to $2,051.0 million, or by 1.3 percent over the past year.  Bank lending, however, rose by a very robust 11.2 percent, increasing from $1,686.0 million to $1,875.5 over the period.