The Stevens Point economy continues to move forward albeit at a modest pace.  Most economic indicators in the report suggest that the economy was stable or expanding somewhat in a few categories of activity.  For example, the unemployment rate fell in the area, but total employment is estimated to have contracted slightly.  Also, industrial sector employment was at about the same level as a year ago.

     Portage county industrial sector employment (Table 7) has expanded in the services, trade, and construction categories.  Services added approximately 100 persons to Portage county payrolls.  Trade provided an additional 300 positions to the local situation.  Construction, likewise, added to the local job base by an estimate of 100.  In contrast, manufacturing contracted 200 positions, and government by about 500.  In sum, sectoral employment was very stable in the area with little overall net change taking place.

     Retailer confidence (Table 8) in the Stevens Point-Plover area was less optimistic than the quarter before.  Local merchants felt that store traffic and sales were only moderately better than one year ago.  However, this panel is quite upbeat with regard to the April-June time frame.  In other words, the merchants anticipate a very good spring period.

     Help wanted advertising (Table 9) shot dramatically upwards in March.  The index of 302 represents a near record level of help wanted advertising in the area.  The 302 number means that there are 3 jobs being listed for each job in the base year.  This bodes well for area workers because it means that employers are actively seeking more employees.  Even though the index does not capture all job opportunities, it is nonetheless a good barometer of the local labor market situation.

     After many months of decline, initial public assistance claims (Table 10) rose in Portage county.  The number of new applications climbed from 104 to 298 on a monthly average basis.  Better news in this measure of local family distress comes in the total caseload category.  The number of total claims declined by about 50, or 2.8 percent.

     We also have good news to report concerning unemployment claims (Table 11) in Portage county.  The number of new claims on a weekly average basis contracted slightly from 87 to 86, or 1.1 percent.  Moreover, total claims declined from 200 to 182, or 9.0 percent.  Thus, the unemployment claims situation continues to brighten for the local area.

     Table 12 presents 1st Quarter estimates of residential construction activity in the Stevens Point-Plover area.  Residential permits issued rose by 3 percent but the estimated value of the activity went up by almost 26 percent.  The number of housing units expanded by 17.5 percent.  In the realm of alteration activity, the number of permits is estimated to have declined by 33 percent, but the value of this activity rose by approximately 18.9 percent.

     Table 13 presents estimates of non-residential construction totals but does not provide percentage changes.  The volatile nature of this activity can and often does cause the number to swing dramatically from period to period, which makes percentage change rather meaningless.  The number of estimated permits was 2 and their forecasted value was $1.3 million.  The number of business alteration permits was 40 and their value was estimated at $565.1 thousand.

     Financial statistics (Table 14) for the area were quite positive.  Bank deposits rose from $288.4 million to $299.4 million for a healthy gain of 3.8 percent.  Likewise, the area experienced a 4.0 percent improvement in bank lending.  Lending actually rose from $310.1 million to $322.4 million in the year over comparison.