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The
economic indicators for the Wausau Marathon County area were decidedly mixed
during First Quarter 2002. Table 2
shows that total employment in the county edged higher by 2.4 percent, but
industrial sector employment in Table 7 fell by about 0.3 percent.
The retail sector seems to be doing well, and consumers appear to be
spending at a decent clip. However, unemployment claims and help wanted
advertising suggest that labor market conditions have deteriorated since last
year.
The only industrial sectors in
Marathon County to register an increase in the number of jobs in Marathon County
were services and trade, which gained 1.3 percent and 7.0 percent to their
respective payrolls. However, the manufacturing sector continues to slump. The
number of positions fell by 6.4 percent from last year. Similarly, construction
and government positions declined by 14.3 and 1.3 percent, respectively.
Local
merchant optimism has held up fairly well since the last CWERB survey (Table
8). The rise
in sales tax collections and the increase in trade employment support the notion
that trade activity has expanded in the area. Our panel of local merchants was
very positive in its assessment of total sales and traffic compared to a year
ago. Moreover, this group continues to be upbeat about the future. Their
forecast suggests that there will be a continuation of strong retail activity
into the next quarter.
The continued downward plunge
of help wanted advertising, however, presents a more pessimistic view of the
economic landscape. This quarter's results show that the help wanted
advertising index fell from 113 to 62, a drop of 45 percent (Table
9). The mark of 62
means that there are approximately 0.62 jobs being advertised for every job
being advertised in the base year. Likewise the U.S. help wanted advertising
index tumbled from 71 to 51, or by 28 percent from a year ago. These barometers
of labor market conditions strongly suggest that job seekers are having a much
more difficult time finding employment. In addition, the National Association of
Colleges and Employers reports that college hiring is down approximately 36
percent from last year.
Negative news can also be
interpreted from the unemployment claim data for Marathon County (Table
10). New
unemployment claims on a weekly average basis rose from 558 to 659, representing
a sizeable increase of 18.1 percent. Similarly the number of total claims on a
weekly average basis increased from 3,269 to 4,023, or by 23.1 percent. The
unemployment claim figures also suggest that labor market conditions are not as
strong as they have been in the recent past.
Residential construction
activity in the greater Wausau area continues to be very strong (Table
11). The number of
residential permits issued increased by 25 percent from a year ago. Moreover,
the estimated value of these new homes grew by almost 12 percent over the
period. Likewise, the number of housing units associated with the permits
increased by approximately 27 percent. Alteration construction also expanded
over the course of the year. The number of alteration permits issued rose by
about 4 percent and the associated value of the permits was 26 percent higher
than a year ago.
Nonresidential
construction is a very volatile in nature. Huge swings in activity can occur
from period to period; hence, no percentage changes are given (Table_12). The number of
permits issued was 2 in First Quarter and the estimated value of this
construction was only $110 thousand. These numbers are as low as anything seen
in the past fifteen years. The number of business alteration permits was down
from historic averages when only 30 permits were issued. The value of this
alteration activity was estimated to be $4.2 million. |
