The local economy continued to demonstrate a sluggishness that commenced in the second half of last year. Employment for Portage County's nonfarm sectors decreased by 520 or 2.3% from last year. Residential construction was also disappointing when compared to a year ago. All five categories under residential construction experienced declines from last year's levels. However, some strength was reported in the area of retailer confidence in present and future economic activity. Also, the help wanted advertising index presented in Table 9 indicates that when compared to a year ago the demand for labor has increased. Another positive sign came from the financial statistics presented in Table 14. The rate of growth for bank deposits exceeded the growth rate for funds loaned. Thus, the liquidity of the community or purchasing power should be enhanced in the future.

     Portage County employment by sector is presented in Table 7. The manufacturing sector displayed no growth in employment over 1985 levels. Services declined by 14.2% from the same period in 1985. The major reason for this decline was the reduction in the transportation, communication, and utilities component of the number. Construction and government each posted gains over last year's employment numbers. Trade showed signs of recovery with a gain of 100 jobs. This represents the first increase since the mall’s construction and is the highest level of employment achieved since first quarter 1985.

     The retailer confidence survey for the Stevens Point-Plover area (Table 8) reflects that, as a group, retailers believe they have experienced an increase in total sales and in store traffic when compared to June of last year. Furthermore, retailers in the area are forecasting that sales and traffic will improve over the next quarter.

     The demand for labor in the Stevens Point area is gauged by the help wanted advertising index. June's index value was 173. This is a substantial increase over the 100.8 level of June 1985. Thus, there was approximately a 73% increase in help wanted over that of a year ago (Table 9).

     As of first quarter 1986, public assistance figures are being computed on a county-wide basis. The change in the data base may tend to overstate the number of claims relative to previous quarters but should provide a more precise picture of conditions in the county in the future.

     Unemployment claims in Stevens Point dropped dramatically by 24.3% from second quarter 1985 (Table 11.). However, the decrease of 389 claims may not portray an improvement over last year's performance for the following reasons: claims are< now processed only one day per week at the Stevens Point office. Thus, less accessibility may have caused some individuals to file at the Wisconsin Rapids' office. Out migration from the area and worker discouragement may also have played a part in lowering the claims number. Finally, the base number of weeks needed to qualify was increased.

     Lower interest rates have not stimulated residential construction in the Stevens Point-Plover area. Table 12 shows that despite lower long-term interest rates, residential permits issued declined 11.1 % from the same period last year. Also, the estimated value of new homes fell 34.1 %. There were similar declines in the number of housing units, alteration permits, and alteration values. Thus, the improved weather conditions and lower interest rates of spring did not stimulate the local residential construction scene.