Central Wisconsin is defined in this report to consist of Portage, Marathon and Wood Counties. This section analyzes economic performance from a regional perspective. Measure­ment of economic conditions is based on unemployment rates, total employment, employ­ment by sector, employment by key industry and the attitudes of regional business execu­tives. This information is contained in Tables 2-6.

     The Central Wisconsin unemployment rate is at the lowest level since the 1975-80 economic expansion (Table 2). The regional unemployment rate stands at 5.9%, slightly below the Wisconsin rate and a full percentage point less than the national rate. The Portage County unemployment rate dropped to an impressive 5.1 % during September. Wood County recorded a near equal rate of 5.4% while Marathon County stands at 6.8%. All unemployment rates are seasonally unadjusted and therefore overstate the strength of the labor mar­ket. However, the regional unemployment rate shows improvement relative to September 1984 and all three counties are slightly below the year earlier level.

     Employment data for Central Wisconsin is far less encouraging (Table 3). For the second consecutive quarter, the regional employment total is below the year earlier level. Although a drop in payrolls is disturbing, the decline is small (.8%) and less than the Wis­consin reduction (1.3%). It is standard cyclical behavior for employment gains to become progressively smaller as the economy moves toward a peak. The combined performance of Portage and Wood Counties is close to the U.S. job growth rate. However, Marathon County employment has slipped 3.0% since last year. The sputtering Marathon County economy is the primary reason for the decline in overall regional employment.

     The manufacturing sector was the main source of the limited job creation which did take place in the regional economy (Table 4). After showing very little improvement for several quarters, manufacturing firms in the region expanded payrolls for the second straight quarter. Gains were paced by nondurable goods manufacturers, which increased payrolls 5.8% above the September 1984 level. Virtually no change in employment conditions was recorded in other major sectors. Only the trade sector posted any improvement, a miniscule .8%, while the service and government sectors showed small employment declines.

     With one important exception, job creation among Central Wisconsin's key industries was nonexistent (Table 5). The food processing industry was the dramatic exception. Employment in the industry leaped 26.8%. Eleven hundred (1100) workers were adped to the industry's payrolls when compared to last year. The vast majority of gains took place in Portage County. Employment in paper products, the region's largest industry, was unchanged compared to a year ago. Payrolls fell 6.8% in the slumping lumber and wood products industry, while financial services employment remained stagnant. Job losses in the insurance industry have been largely offset by employment expansion in the savings and loan industry.

     Perceptions of executives with Central Wisconsin's leading companies show little change from the June survey (Table 6). National conditions are expected to continue improving moderately. The local economy is seen as performing below the national average in the next six months. Executives remain optimistic about conditions in their respective industries.