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The
Wood County‑Marshfield area economy was somewhat sluggish over the course of the
past year. The good news is that the unemployment rate fell and employment is
generally higher than a year ago. But growth for both total and industrial
employment expanded by very modest percentages, especially when compared to the
rates of the state and nation. Moreover, retailers while optimistic are less
upbeat than the year before. Help wanted advertising was another bright spot for
the local economy rising by nearly 15 percent in the report.
In
addition, residential construction was much above the totals established one
year ago, realizing of course that Third Quarter 1993 was not a particularly
robust period. Thus, a comparison between the two periods warrants some caution
on the part of the reader. Finally, the financial statistics in our sample paint
a mixed picture with bank deposits remaining nearly stable and banking lending
strongly rising by nearly 11 percent.
Wood
County industrial sector employment crept forward by a scant 0.4 percent or 180
jobs since September of last year (Table 7). Services and
construction sectors were the only ones to rise above the previous year's mark,
growing by 970 and 110 positions respectively. In contrast, trade and government
employment fell by 600 and 300. Manufacturing was unchanged from a year ago at
10,100 persons. The CWERB's Marshfield Employment Index rose to 150.7 compared
to 146.8 in a year over comparison, suggesting that Marshfield's employment
situation improved by a modest 2.7 percent. As a matter of record, for the past
number of years the services sector has been the major employment engine during
the expansion in county payrolls.
Table 8 shows the CWERB retailer confidence survey for
Marshfield.
The index for September 1994 is lower in all four categories when contrasted
with the marks received in June 1994. Thus, even though all the responses are
above 50, meaning that matters are improved or forecasted to improve, this panel
is less optimistic than last quarter. Historically speaking, the index has been
trending lower since First Quarter 1994 with regard to the questions dealing
with store traffic and sales compared to the previous year.
Help
wanted advertising rose by a brisk 14.8 percent from last year in the Marshfield
area (Table
9). The index of 272
means there are 2.7 job advertisements for every one posted in 1980. The
barometer of the local labor market has been trending sharply upward since Third
Quarter 1992. Some part of this advertisement surge is originating from firms
located outside the local area who are looking for qualified workers.
Nonetheless, this is good news for local job seekers.
Table 10 public assistance claims data are not available
this quarter due to problems in extracting this information on a timely basis
from the State's computer system. Table 11, another
measure of local area family financial distress, shows stability for the local
area. New unemployment claims on a weekly average basis stayed at a constant 29
over the year. Meanwhile, total claims on a weekly average basis fell slightly,
from 64 to 60 a decline of 6.3 percent. Total claims continue to trend slowly
downward since Third Quarter 1992 falling from approximately 170 to 124 on a
four quarter moving average basis.
Residential construction rebounded in the area from last year's activity levels
(Table
12). Residential
permits issued, their estimated value, the number of new housing units,
residential alteration permits issued, and their associated value rose by 33,
36, 44, 43 and 41 percent respectively. However, as far as Third Quarter
activity is concerned, this quarter's figure for the value of new construction
has been exceeded four times out of the past five years. Thus, suggesting a
longer downward trend is in progress.
Table 13 presents nonresidential construction. As usual
no percentage changes are given due to the volatility of business investment.
For the record, Third Quarter 1994 activity was as follows. The number of
permits issued was 15 with an estimated value of $528 thousand for the period.
The number of business alteration permits was also 15 with an estimated value of
$470 thousand.
Financial statistics, an important gauge of economic activity, is given to the
reader in Table 14. Bank deposits remained virtually
unchanged from a year ago when they fell just 0.3 percent. The event of failing
deposits is a somewhat rare occurrence and runs counter to the long term of the
past five years. In sharp contrast, bank lending soared from $170.6 million to
$188.6 million or by nearly 11 percent in the year over comparison. Thus, the
long‑term trend was re‑affirmed by the events over the past twelve months.
Clark county economic data are given in Table 15 and
Table 16. For the record, the
Clark area economy experienced a substantial increase in total
employment, rising from 15,130 to 16,750 or 10.7 percent from September 1993.
This is good news for the
Marshfield
area because Clark County is an important market area for the local businesses. |
