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The
results for this quarter's report are as follows. The unemployment rate in
Marathon county fell from 6.6 to 6.3 percent over the past twelve months.
Moreover, total employment has expanded by 1.9 percent and now stands at 73.5
thousand. Retailers are quite optimistic about present and future retail
activity. Help wanted advertising has moved upward and unemployment claim data
are virtually unchanged. Residential construction is off the pace of a year ago
and nonresidential construction was fairly strong during first quarter of the
year.
The
industry data in Table 7 is given in a new format. As of
January 2003 industry data is being reported by the government in the North
American Industry Classification System, NAICS, format. This format replaces the
old Standard Industrial Classification System, SICS. The SICS industry
employment numbers from 2002 do not correspond to the NAICS figures. Therefore a
year over comparison with 2002 is not possible. This problem will be resolved
next year when 2003 NAICS data can be compared to 2004 NAICS employment numbers.
The good news is that the change in reporting format gives us a more modern
classification system and also provides greater level of detail.
The
CWERB survey of local merchants is presented in Table 8.
Area retailers believe that store traffic and sales ran well ahead of last
year's marks. This is in sharp contrast the sales tax collection data in Table
5. When asked to forecast future activity as compared to year ago, they felt
that store traffic and sales would be higher than a year ago.
Help
wanted advertising in the Wausau area rose from 62 to 75 in our year over
comparison (Table 9). This is the first time in many
quarters that the index has expanded. The mark of 75 means there are 75
positions being advertised for every one hundred positions in the base year.
Hopefully the rise in the index signals a better job market. The U.S. index,
meanwhile, continues to slide lower suggesting slow job growth in the months
ahead.
Unemployment
claim data for Marathon county area are virtually unchanged from a year ago (Table
10). New unemployment claims on a weekly average basis fell from 659 to 637,
or by 3.2 percent. Total claims on a weekly average basis expanded from 4,023 to
4,106, or by about 2.1 percent. Thus, not much change has taken place with
regard to the unemployment claim situation.
Residential
construction activity in the Wausau area was little changed in most categories (Table
11). The number of permits declined from 40 to 39 and the associated value
of the new construction rose from $5.1 million to $6.0 million over the period.
The number of housing units was 42 last year compared to 41 under construction
for this year. In the alteration permits issued category the number contracted
from 156 to 131. Moreover, the estimated value of the alterations fell from $1.9
million to $1.1 million over the past twelve months.
Nonresidential construction figures are given without percentage changes (Table
12). Large projects can cause the number to vary greatly from year to year.
The number of permits issued was 5 and they had an estimated value of $9.8
million. The Colve Tower Building project accounted for about $8.0 million of
the above total. The number of business alteration permits reached 42 and they
are valued at $6.3 million. Major remodeling projects include the $2.2 million
project at Ryan Industries and a $1.2 million project at Opus North Riverside
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