The Wausau area at this juncture in time seems to have escaped the economic misfortunes that are plaguing many parts of the country, especially the Northeast and the Southeast. The results for third quarter were stronger than expected. The unemployment rate is at an extremely low level and has declined despite an expanding labor force. Total employment increased by a respectable 1.8 percent; however, for the region as a whole, the rate of expansion was a much more modest 0.5 percent. This is important because of the strong economic linkages among the surrounding counties. Probably the brightest spot in the report comes from industrial sector employment where much improvement has taken place. The reader should note that total employment is calculated by the use of a household survey whereas the industrial sector employment figures are collected from employee data. Thus, the employment results can differ substantially. Finally, most of the remaining economic indicators were quite positive given the problems facing the country.
 

     Wausau industrial sector employment growth was exceptionally strong in third quarter 1990 Table 7. This is in contrast to other parts of the country where recession is already a fact of life. Manufacturing, services, and trade all posted substantial gains for third quarter. Manufacturing and trade employment reached all‑time highs regardless of the time of year, adding 1300 and 1600 people to their operations. Meanwhile, service sector employment reached a record level for the third quarter time period, jumping from 15.5 to 17.1 thousand. Construction employment was the only major sector to record a loss as employment contracted from 2.4 to 2.2 thousand. Government payrolls in the county remained unchanged at 6.2 thousand. In sum, industrial sector jobs grew by a surprising 4.5 thousand or 8.8 percent from 1989.
 

     Retailers in the Wausau area provided information suggesting that store traffic and total sales were noticeably higher than one year ago (Table 8). This is in sharp contrast to the nationwide sluggishness in retail activity. Further, this group believes that retail activity next quarter, when compared to last year, will be markedly higher. With consumer sentiments being so pessimistic nationally, high local expectations become noteworthy.
 

     Table 9 is a barometer of the local labor market situation. Locally and for the country as a whole help wanted advertising fell from last year's levels. In Wausau the index went from 199 to 177, a decrease of 11 percent. For the United States the index declined by about 14 percent from 1989. For Wausau the help wanted advertising index has declined four out of the last five quarters. This usually signals a decline in total employment growth, and this measure of economic performance did come in at a sluggish 1.8 percent for third quarter 1990 and at about 0.5 percent during the second quarter time period.
 

     Local family financial distress is measured in Table 10 and Table 11. New applications for public assistance declined by an average of 5.6 percent or about 1 case per month. The total caseload was down from an average of 99 per month to 74. In comparison the total monthly average caseload for third quarter 1987 was 231, with new applications averaging 49 per month. Thus, much progress has been made in the local area over the past several years. Table 11 presents unemployment claims in the Wausau area. Here we see that both initial and total claims, on a weekly average basis, have risen. Initial claims rose by 22.8 percent while total claims increased by 18.4 percent.

     An important leading indicator of future activity is residential construction. This data is presented in Table 12. After several quarters of brisk expansion, construction activity has leveled off somewhat during third quarter 1990.  Residential permits issued, the estimated value of new homes, and number of new units all were lower.  Only residential alteration permits issued and the value of residential alterations posted gains from third quarter 1989.  Nonresidential construction in area generally outpaced last year's activity with three out of four categories showing gains, Table 13.  These classifications were the estimated value of new structures, the number of alteration permits issued, and the value of nonresidential alterations.  No percentage changes are given due to the volatile nature of this type of activity.

     Financial statistics for the greater Wausau area are presented in Table 14.  Both lending and deposits reached all-time highs in the sample.  Deposits, a measure of local liquidity, increased by about 4.4 percent from a year ago.  At the same time bank lending activity increased by approximately $35 million or a brisk 7.3 percent.  Thus the local credit crunch so widely reported in the media, is not readily apparent here in our local area.  The data suggest a rather healthy situation exists presently in the local economy.