After many quarters of expansion, the Stevens Point‑Plover area economy exhibited little employment growth compared to the same time period twelve months ago. Total employment and industrial sector employment declined ever so slightly by 0.8 and 0.9 percent respectively. Good news is that the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate is at an extremely low 3.0 percent. Help wanted advertising remains very high in the area and plans for nonresidential building was brisk even though residential construction slowed in the area. Finally, bank statistics results are very solid for both lending and deposit activity. 

     Employment levels in Portage county's industrial sectors were virtually unchanged from last year (Table 7). Manufacturing, services, and trade payrolls changed very little. As a matter of fact, manufacturing employment stayed at an estimated 6.5 thousand and services and trade grew by just 100 jobs each. Construction and government employment is estimated to have declined by 100 and 400 positions respectively. Overall total industrial sector payrolls fell from 31.4 to 31.1 thousand or by a scant 0.9 percent. 

     Local merchants were slightly more positive in their assessment of retail conditions this quarter than last quarter (Table 8). Store sales and traffic were assigned ratings of 60 and 55 by local merchants which means economic matters were somewhat better than a year ago. In contrast to the assessment of current economic conditions, the future appears more uncertain in their eyes. As a matter of fact, there is less optimism expressed now than in the Second Quarter time period. Finally, the level of confidence peaked in early 1994 for our panel. 

     Table 9 easily demonstrates to the reader that help wanted advertising remains substantial in our area. Help wanted advertising has been trending sharply upwards since 1993. The reading of 290 means there are 2.9 jobs being advertised for every one job in 1980. As mentioned in earlier reports, a significant contributor to the sharp increase has been the rise in advertising by firms located outside the region. These outside firms are literally searching the state for qualified workers. This need to search is a reflection of the robust Wisconsin economy and tight labor market. 

     Public assistance claims in Portage county on a monthly average basis declined from 173 to 104 or by nearly 40 percent since last year (Table 10). However, the total caseload figure rose from 1,415 to 2,109, or 49 percent over the past twelve months. One should remember that public assistance takes several forms and an individual may qualify for several programs, or conversely a person receiving aid may have several dependents. Thus, the figures presented do not necessarily represent the number of people receiving or benefiting from the aid. 

     Table 11 presents unemployment claims on a weekly average basis and it shows that the number of new claims were virtually unchanged, rising from 38 to 39. Likewise, total claims rose, but ever so slightly, from 113 to 121. Thus, the unemployment claim barometer of local economic conditions indicates a great deal of stability exists in the area. 

     Residential construction slowed in the metropolitan area when compared to last years activity (Table 12). Residential permits issued fell by 5.7 percent from a year ago. Likewise the number of housing units was lower by 17.1 percent, and the number of alteration permits was lower by 1.1 percent. However, not all measures were down. The estimated value of new homes rose from $5.3 million to $5.5 million, or 4.2 percent. And the estimated value of alterations climbed from $1.05 million to $1.43 million or by a whopping 35.9 percent. 

     The volatile nonresidential sector is presented without percentage changes in Table 13. The number of permits rose from 10 to 11; however, the associated value of this construction climbed from $1.5 million to $5.2 million. The number of business alteration permits likewise expanded going from 50 to 65. The estimated value of this activity declined from $6.1 million to $3.7 million. 

     Good news is presented in Table 14. Financial statistics for our sample institutions are significantly higher than a year ago. The amount of bank deposits in our sample climbed from $331.1 million to $348.1 million, or by 5.1 percent. Even more impressive was the surge in banking lending. Loans increased from $305.3 million to $340.6 million, or by an impressive 11.6 percent. Deposit and lending figures taken together suggest that the economy is moving forward at a decent clip.