Unemployment rates for Third quarter 1999 are at record low levels (Table 2).  Portage and Marathon counties registered identical 1.8 percent unemployment rates in September.  Just as impressive was Wood County's 2.0 unemployment rate.  The state of Wisconsin continues to have lower unemployment than the nation.  The Wisconsin rate stood at 2.0 percent in September compared to the U.S. rate of 4.1 percent.

     More good news comes from the employment figures for the three counties (Table 3).  Wood County led the pack with a 2.0 percent growth rate.  Marathon expanded by 1.3 percent and Portage is estimated to have grown by 1.1 percent over the past twelve months.  Wisconsin payrolls edged slowly higher by adding 0.5 percent.  The U.S., in comparison, expanded by 1.3 percent.

     For the three county area only the manufacturing sector's payrolls contracted, by 3.0 percent (Table 4).  Services, trade and construction employment were up by 3.8, 3.6 and 3.2 percent respectively.  Although the government sector also reported high growth of 5.7 percent, I strongly suspect the government figure is overstated due to reporting irregularities.

     Retail sales activity is a very important barometer of the health of the economy.  For Portage County the sales tax figures climbed by nearly 12.0 percent from last year (Table 5).  Further, the surge in Marathon was even greater at 19.4 percent.  These numbers clearly indicate that people are spending at record levels in the region.  This would only occur in periods of general prosperity.

     Relating to the Marshfield version of the report, Figure 5A and Figure 5B present a historical overview of employment changes in the major industrial categories.  For example, since 1995, service jobs have expanded from 45 thousand to over 50 thousand in the region.  Manufacturing employment has increased from about 33 thousand to 35 thousand over the period.  During the same time frame trade expanded from 30 thousand to about 35 thousand jobs.  One can quickly see from the employment numbers how our economy is being transformed.

     Regional business executives tell the CWERB that recent economic changes at the national and local levels have been modest (Table 6).  When asked to forecast future economic conditions this group seems to be wary of the future.  Higher interest rates and inflationary concerns are coloring their remarks.  Even with this negative outlook concerning national and regional conditions this group believes their particular business will be little affected.