Generally speaking the Marshfield‑Wood county economy experienced a period of modest economic growth over the past year. Several positive factors can be cited in support of this assessment. Total employment expanded by 1.3 percent and industrial sector payrolls by nearly 2.0 percent since last March. Retailer confidence was strong and help wanted advertising rose by nearly 15 percent. Other measures of area activity were somewhat less positive in nature.

     Wood county industrial sector employment increased by 2.0 percent over the past twelve months (Table 7). Specifically the manufacturing and services sectors grew by a healthy 2.1 and 3.2 percent respectively. Trade also shared in the growth by posting a 3.3 percent increase. Construction remained at about the same level, but on the downside government payrolls fell by about 200 persons over the year. For Marshfield our employment index suggests a 3.3 percent gain took place in our community.

     Retailer confidence in Marshfield jumped upwards from December's level
(Table 8). Our local panel of merchants strongly believe that store traffic and sales were well above the levels of last year. They are also quite optimistic with regard to the future. This group holds the collective opinion that matters will improve next quarter. Thus, merchants are very optimistic with regard to the area's economic vitality.

     More heartening news comes from the help wanted advertising index (Table 9). The Marshfield index rose from 152 to 175 or 15 percent since last March. Even though an index such as this does not capture all job marketing opportunities, it nonetheless serves as a useful barometer of local conditions. Further, it is a good indicator of the future direction of the labor market. Finally, the gain in Marshfield exceeded the 3.3 percent change in the national index.

     Table 10 and Table 11 contain useful information on local family financial distress. The total public assistance caseload for all of Wood county contracted by 1.1 percent. However new unemployment claims rose from 98 to 110 over the past year. Similarly, the weekly average for total claims rose from 245 to 252 over the same period. Thus, even though we are in the seventh year of an economic expansion, the data indicates that for a variety of reasons some individuals are experiencing financial difficulties.

     Residential construction was ahead of last year's pace for First Quarter
(Table 12). New home construction reached 4 with an estimated value of $542.0 thousand. The number of residential alteration permits came in at 35 and they were estimated at almost $200 thousand. Typically, First Quarter is the slowest period of the year for residential construction and the numbers in the report reflect this situation.

     First Quarter, however, was relatively strong for nonresidential construction (Table 13). Higher income levels and low interest rates have surely helped this situation. The number of permits issued was 4 and their value was estimated at $380 thousand. The big news is the number of alteration permits climbed all the way to 22 with an associated value of nearly $3.7 million.

     Financial statistics for the Marshfield area are given in Table 14. Our sample showed there was little change in the amount of bank lending or loans taking place over the course of the year. Deposits expanded from $293.4 to $296.1 million, or by about 1.0 percent. Likewise, lending was about the same, declining slightly from $254.1 to $252.0 million.

     Table 15 and Table 16 present economic data for Clark county. Almost every category of industrial sector employment increased. Manufacturing and trade added 3.8 and 3.3 percent respectively to their payrolls. Construction and government expanded by 10.6 and 1.7 percent over the past period More good news comes from the fact that the unemployment rate has dropped and total employment is approximately 1.0 percent better than a year ago. Thus, we see that some steady if not modest progress has taken place in Clark county