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Once again another quarter has passed and good news can be reported for our
local area. Unemployment rates are well below last year's levels. Total
employment is higher by 4,400 positions or 3.3 percent from third quarter 1992.
Every county participated in the expansion. Industrial sector employment rose by
4.5 percent or 5,600 positions. Further, key
Central Wisconsin industries grew by 1500 jobs or 5.1 percent. Although
regional business leaders see no change in national or local conditions, they
are optimistic with regard to their industries' prospects for in the months
ahead.
There are, however, some negative aspects to report for this quarter. The
final closing of the J.1. Case plant in the
Wausau area along with the
abnormally bad weather of this past spring and summer and its negative effect on
local farmers' pocketbooks are also a part of this quarter's story and should
not be overlooked.
Seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates in the region, state, and country
plunged over the course of the year
(Table 2).
The unemployment rates fell by approximately 50 percent for the counties of
Central Wisconsin. Respectively, the rates were 3.5, 3.5, and 3.9 percent for
Portage, Marathon, and
Wood Counties. Please note that the seasonally unadjusted rates in
Central Wisconsin were probably overstated in 1992 due to statistical
problems. For the region as a whole, the rate stood at a labor force weighted
3.6 percent. Wisconsin's
seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate of 3.8 percent was well below the 6.9
percent for the United States.
Total employment in the counties of the region and state grew steadily over the
course of the year (Table
3).
Portage,
Marathon, and Wood County payrolls reportedly grew by 3000, 1100, and 4400
respectively. The regional employment growth rate of 3.3 percent outpaced that
of the state and nation. Specifically, Central Wisconsin's total employment grew
from 133.8 to 138.2 thousand. Employment growth at the national level continues
to lag. It appears that the recession in California is acting as a drag on
national employment growth figures.
Industrial sector employment in
Central Wisconsin expanded from 124.5 to 130.1 thousand since September
1992 (Table 4). This gain in industrial sector employment
amounted to an increase of 5600 jobs or 4.5 percent. The services and trade
sectors continued their swift upward climb in our area. They led this quarter's
expansion by posting gains of 2200 and 1600 respectively. Since the mid 1980's
services sector employment has grown from approximately 30 thousand to nearly 45
thousand, an increase of 50 percent. Furthermore, trade will soon surpass
manufacturing in total employment in
Central Wisconsin
if present trends continue.
Table 5 presents employment in
Central Wisconsin's
key industries. These industries export local goods and services to the rest of
Wisconsin and to the rest of the world. Approximately one out of every four
industrial sector jobs in our area is associated with one of these basic
industries. Every sector except for paper products registered a healthy increase
in employment. Lumber and wood products, food processing, and finance,
insurance, and real estate expanded by 300, 500, and 1000 positions since last
year. These gains pushed Central Wisconsin's key industry employment upward by
5.1 percent.
Table 6
presents the CWERB's business confidence index for third quarter 1993. The level
of optimism was virtually unchanged from second quarter when this group
responded to questions concerning recent changes in national and local
conditions. The 50 level on the index means that managers perceive no change in
national or local economic conditions from a year ago. When asked to forecast
future conditions on the national, local, and industry levels, they were mildly
optimistic. The most optimism was reserved for prospects in their individual
industries as evidenced by the 59 rating. |
