The past 3 1/2 years can be characterized as a period of substantial economic growth, adjustment, and restructuring in the Wausau area. The recovery from the very harsh recession of the early 1980s is more than complete. Data for 4th quarter suggest that even though the national economy and segments of the Central Wisconsin region have slowed, as of yet there is little evidence of this in the Wausau area. The 4th quarter results were, for the most part, very favorable. Even though the unemployment rate was substantially above last year's, it was mitigated by increasing total and nonfarm employment. As a matter of fact, the Marathon County area was the only segment in the region to post a gain in total employment from one year ago. Given the substantial commuting that takes place among the counties, this development is welcomed in all parts of the area. 

     Marathon County employment was higher in all major nonfarm categories,
Table 7. Every classification achieved record levels for the 4th quarter time period. The very important manufacturing sector gained approximately 500 new jobs. Further, services, trade, construction, and government added 600, 700, 200, and 500 positions respectively. In sum, nearly 2,500 more people are employed in Marathon County than in December 1988, bringing the grand total to 48,300. 

     Retail conditions give important clues as to the health of an economy, Table 8. The CWERB survey of local merchants is intended to give us that kind of insight into the Wausau area economy. The degree of optimism expressed remains virtually unchanged from last quarter. The merchants felt that total sales and traffic were noticeably better than one year ago at this time. When asked about the future, they said that store traffic and sales would be better than last year at the same time. Thus, even in the face of a slowing national economy, this group remains fairly confident about the Wausau economy. 

     Another gauge of the local situation is presented in Table 9. Here, the data point to a less optimistic picture. Help wanted advertising in the area dropped for the third consecutive quarter when compared with last years marks. The index was down by approximately 22 percent from 1988. This is very similar to what took place at the national level, where help wanted advertising declined by 5 percent. However, even though the local index has declined, the current reading tells us that approximately two jobs are being advertised for every one job advertised in 1980. 

     Contrasting results are displayed in Table 10 and Table 11. Public assistance for new and total claims rose from last year's marks. Total caseload was up by an average of 7 claims per month and new applications were up by an average of 12. We get a somewhat different story from the unemployment claims data. Here the weekly average number of initial unemployment claims fell by 24 and total claims decreased by 127. 

     A leading economic indicator of overall activity is residential construction. The 4th quarter numbers were generally below those of last year, Table 12. Permits issued, the estimated value of new homes, the number of units, the number of residential alteration permits, and the estimated value of residential alterations all fell short of the marks established in 1988. However, to keep things in perspective, the results for this 4th quarter were higher than all 4th quarters of the 1980s except 1988. 

     Nonresidential construction is reported without percentage changes (Table 13). The reason for this is the large and singular nature of these projects. It is important to look at such data because they tell us how economically healthy the community is and give us clues about its likely direction and prospects for job creation. The level of activity for 4th quarter was on the high end of the distribution for the 1980s. This means that the activity level compared favorably with past periods, which bodes well for the local area. 

     Table 14 presents Wausau area financial statistics. Local bank deposits, a measure of local liquidity, rose by nearly $48 million dollars. Lending activity was even more brisk posting a 12.5 percent or $56.7 million gain over December 1988. Both lending and deposits data are indicative of an economy which has expanded by a noticeable degree.