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This
quarter's results give indication that the local economy's growth has slowed
from the pace established in earlier periods.
Examples that support this contention include: a rising unemployment
rate; a decrease in total employment; a very small increase in industrial sector
employment; and a dramatic fall in the help wanted advertising index. The reader will find out that the report contains additional
information, besides the aforementioned, that suggest that the economy has
cooled down.
Marathon
county payrolls for the major industrial sectors are listed in
Table 7. In general, employment growth was hard to come by in First
Quarter 2001. For example,
manufacturing jobs are estimated to have fallen by 1.6 percent in our year over
comparison. Trade and construction
employment barely changed over the period, 0.6 and 0.0 percent respectively.
Brighter news comes from the services and government sectors.
Employment in these categories rose by 2.7 and 2.6 percent respectively.
In sum, about 600 net positions were created in the Marathon County
industrial sectors.
Our
panel of local merchants believes that store traffic and sales are significantly
higher than a year ago
(Table
8). This is in
sharp contrast to the other reporting areas in Central Wisconsin.
The optimistic appraisal was also apparent in their assessment of
expected sales and store traffic three months from now as compared to last year.
Based on the survey, it appears that the local retail scene is holding up
in this period of sluggish economic activity.
A
barometer of the local labor market conditions is the CWERB help wanted
advertising index
(Table
9). Advertising has
fallen dramatically since last year's reading of 240.
The index now stands at 113 which indicates that business firms
throughout the area are curtailing their hiring plans.
This action comes in response to falling demand for goods and services.
Unemployment
claims in the Marathon County area have risen since last year
(Table
10). New claims on a weekly average basis rose from 524 to 558, a
6.5 percent increase. More
disturbing was the ominous increase in total claims.
Total claims have moved sharply higher from a year ago.
The total for new claims increased from 2,707 to 3,269 resulting in a
20.8 percent change.
Residential
construction fell off the pace of one year ago
(Table
11).
The number of residential permits issued declined by nearly 24 percent
and the value of this activity is 25 percent below last year's total.
Similarly, the number of housing units fell by 28 percent.
Residential alteration permits issued contracted by 15 percent, but the
estimated value of these alterations climbed by about 16 percent.
Nonresidential
construction is given without percentage changes because this kind of activity
is inherently volatile and fluctuates greatly from period to period
(Table
12).
The number of permits issued was 6 and they were estimated to be worth
$15.2 million. The bulk of this
amount can be attributed to a new high school and a new elementary school.
Financial
statistics for the Wausau area are presented in Table 13.
Bank deposits crept upwards from $2.07 billion to $2.11 billion over the
past twelve months. This change represents a gain of 1.9 percent.
Our other measure of local financial statistics is bank lending.
The result for First Quarter indicates that bank lending has risen from
$1.91 billion to $2.01 billion or almost 6.0 percent from a year ago. |
