Overall, the Wausau area economy shows signs of continued slow improvement. Positive factors are the lower unemployment rate, increased total employment, and strength in trade and construction employment. The manufacturing sector also continues to show evidence of recovery. Other indications of improving local conditions can be found in retailer confidence, help wanted advertising, and total unemployment claims. Weakness, however, was evident in residential construction and financial markets. The increase in total funds loaned exceeded the growth of total deposits by more than 6% indicating a potential for slower growth in the future.

     Of Marathon County's major sectors, only services and government experienced employment loss when compared to June of 1985 with each sector losing 100 positions (Table 7). Trade led the way with an employment gain of 500 or 0.5% over last year. Also showing strength with an increase of 360 jobs was construction. Manufacturing posted a second straight quarter of modest growth. Overall, major sector employment increased by 760 jobs or 1.8%.

      The retailer confidence index is presented in Table 8. Major Wausau area retailers indicated that sales and store traffic are slightly improved when compared to June 1985. Also they expect sales three months from now to be mildly better than at the present.

      Help wanted advertising showed improvement (Table 9). The index stands 41.6 points higher than a year ago. This is a favorable sign. The improved labor demand during this period should translate into a future increase in employment.

     Table 10 presents the number of public assistance claims made from April to June in the Wausau area. A major change in public assistance claims administration has altered the manner in which claims are compiled. Figures are now collected on a county­wide basis. The change in the data base will tend to overstate the number of claims relative to previous quarters, but it should provide a more precise picture of conditions in Marathon County in the future.

     Unemployment claims reporting in Wausau also underwent a change during the fourth quarter of 1985 (Table 11). Medford area claims are now included in the Wausau numbers. When allowance is made for this change, initial unemployment claims are probably improved over second quarter 1985, even though a slight increase was reported. Moreover, total unemployment claims for the Wausau area declined 10.6%. This occurred despite the fact that Medford was included in the second quarter 'f986 numbers.

     Declining interest rates for two consecutive quarters have not stimulated residential construction starts (Table 12). However, the value of new homes rose 10.9% and the value of residential alterations increased 20.5% from the April - June 1985 period. A positive factor is that even though the number of permits for new residential construction and alterations is down, the value of residential projects has increased substantially.

     Strength in non-residential construction was evident in Marathon County (Table 13). In spite of the small increase in the number of new and business alteration permits, total dollar values increased markedly. Major new projects are the Wergin Company building and the Hawthorne Hills School, while expansion of the Central Wisconsin Airport accounts for a large portion of the change in the business alterations category.

     Bank deposits for second quarter were 4.6% higher than a year ago (Table 14). However, bank loans increased 11.3% over the June 1985 figure. This indicates a decrease in liquidity compared to the same period last year.

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