There is growing evidence of a weakening area economy.
This section of the report zeroes in on data specific to
the Wausau
area. Tables 7-14 contain information on local labor,
retail, construction and financial markets.
Employment gains in the past year have been concentrated
in
Marathon
County's trade sector (Table
7). Retail and wholesale trade employment stands
7.2% higher than the March 1984 level. The manufacturing
and service sectors reported virtually unchanged
employment conditions, reflecting the slowing local
economy. Construction and government employment are
below last year's totals.
Retailers in the Wausau area have witnessed
moderately rising sales and store traffic in recent
months (Table 8). The magnitude of
these gains has subsided since the seasonally adjusted
December survey. Retailers remain confident about the
months ahead despite the negative local economic news.
Somewhat surprisingly the Wausau area help wanted
index moved above the 1984 reading (Table
9). This may be reflecting the strong retail sector.
Public assistance claims in the area are up slightly but
new applications took an encouraging 8.0% drop from
1984's first quarter (Table 10).
The unemployment claim data gathered by the Wausau Job
Service office contains the most sobering information on
the local economy (Table 11).
Unemployment claims stand 5.2% above the first quarter
of last year but more ominous is the 20.3% jump in
initial claims. The impact of area plant closings are
clearly beginning to have a measurable impact.
Construction data for the Wausau area is a mixed bag
though the news is generally positive (Table
12 and Table 13).
Construction activity as recorded by the building
inspectors in the cities of Wausau and Schofield and
the townships of Weston and Kronenwetter, shows an
increase in residential and nonresidential permits. The
absolute numbers are small and some construction
indicators are negative. The actual level of activity,
typical for the winter months, was quite low.
Financial activity as reported by the
Wausau
area's eight largest deposit institutions showed gains
in loans and total deposits (Table 14).
Bank deposits posted an encouraging 9.4% increase over
last year. Loan activity is also up solidly. The rise in
bank deposits suggests that there is growing liquidity
among Wausau
area consumers.
