The central Wisconsin economic picture remained bright in second quarter 1998.  Employment is up in all categories and for all geographic areas.  The same thing can be said about the falling unemployment rates throughout the area.  The industrial sector employment categories also turned in good numbers.  However, regional business executives do have some concern about the Asian situation as it pertains to the national economy.   But, this group also feels that this situation will have a small impact upon their business region.             

     Unemployment rates fell in all reporting categories during the past year
(Table 2).  The unemployment rates now stand at historic lows.  Portage, Wood, and Marathon counties seasonally adjusted rates were 4.0, 3.3 and 4.5 respectively.  On a labor force weighted average basis central Wisconsin's rate was just 3.8 percent.  The state continues to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, 3.2 percent.  For the country as a whole the unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent. 

     More good news comes form the employment situation (Table 3).  All geographic area reported increases in the number of employed.  Portage county payrolls are estimated to have increased by 6.7 percent or 2,400 people.  Marathon added 1,000 jobs and Wood approximately 300.  For central Wisconsin 3,700 new jobs were created bringing total employment up to 149.4 thousand, a gain of 2.5 percent form a year ago.  The state and nation also expanded, albeit at somewhat slower rates, 2.0 and 1.4 percent respectively.            

     Industrial sector employment also turned in a good performance over the past year (Table 4).  Manufacturing and services grew by 1.7 and 2.5 percent.  At the same time trade, construction, and government increased by 2.4, 3.1, and 6.4 percent respectively.  Overall the industrial categories increased from 139.2 to 143.1 thousand or by a very good 2.8 percent.  Thus, it is quite apparent that the local economy continues to grow and develop.   

     The amount of growth that has taken place over the years in central Wisconsin's main industrial sectors is presented in figure 5A and figure 5B.  Each category has increased by approximately the following amounts since 1994: services by 4,000; manufacturing by 3,000; trade by 4,000; construction by 1,100, and government by 1,000.  Thus, a significant change has occurred in our economy and underscores the progress made in the region in terms of economic development.    

     The CWERB poll of regional business executives contains some very interesting results fore the quarter (Table 6).  The group believes that recent changes at the national and local levels have been minimal.  Given the good performance of the economy this can be interpreted in a positive manner.  However, the situation in Asia is clearly on the minds of these individuals.  This group holds the opinion that the national economy will slow down because of the situation in Asia.  However, this group does not see the situation having a dramatic effect on the local economy or their particular industry.