The Wausau Area economy continued to adjust to structural change during the last three months of 1985. This process stymied local economic growth but has not led to actual retrenchment. The net result is a set of economic figures that look very similar to those reported one year ago. Tables 7-14 contain data on local labor, retail, construction and financial markets.

     Nonagriculture wage and salary employment statistics show only minor changes, compared to December 1984 (Table 7). The manufacturing sector continued to improve modestly. Seasonal factors pushed sector employment down but payrolls remain above the year earlier figure. December 1984 manufacturing employment was revised to significantly below the initial estimate. Construction employment, reflecting the third quarter increase in nonresidential construction permits, showed surprising seasonal strength. The government sector also reported minor gains.

     Jobs in the service and trade sectors have become increasingly difficult to find in recent months. The service sector, plagued by the locally weak finance service industry, was down 600 jobs compared to last year. Trade employment was unchanged from the December 1984 figure although some seasonal retail jobs were added in the fourth quarter.

     The retailer confidence survey shows considerable slippage compared to the third quarter (Table 8). Although retailers reported a small improvement in sales, the index dropped from 67 to 55. A similar though less pronounced decline showed up in the ex­pected sales index value. These results are another indication of limited growth.

     The most positive finding for the Wausau area was a sharp increase in the volume of help wanted advertising (Table 9). The index rose to 152.6% of the base year (1980) level. This increase put the index well above the December 1984 level.

     Local public assistance claims show little change from last year's level (Table 10). The total case load was almost identical. On an encouraging note, new applications were down significantly. This may be due to improving conditions or out-migration from the area.

      The unemployment claim data is difficult to interpret (Table 11). Total claims rose 3.5% while initial claims jumped 11.6%, however the area of coverage was modified during the fourth quarter of 1985. The Job Service began including the Medford area in November of this past year. This adjustment obviously results in an upward bias for the 1985 figures.

     A slow economy combined with unusually severe fourth quarter weather acted to restrict residential construction in the Wausau area (Table 12). Despite lower interest rates, residential construction permits showed only a modest gain while the estimated value of new homes dropped 12.9%. Residential alteration activity declined significantly com­pared to the fourth quarter of 1984.

     For the second consecutive quarter major projects boosted the value of nonresidential construction (Table 13). Although the number of permits issued was down, the value of new construction soared to over $3.8 million.

     Financial statistics for the Wausau area show modest improvement over the previous year (Table 14). Deposits and loans of major financial institutions are 5.3% and 4.3% above a year ago, respectively. However, compared to the previous quarter, deposits inched up 1.2% while loans dipped 3.5% below the third quarter level.