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The Marshfield
and Wood County economies continue to hold their own even in the
face of a national recession. Most of the statistics for fourth
quarter suggest either a slight amount of growth or virtually no
change from fourth quarter 1989. Thus, this area and region
continue to avoid the severest aspects of the recession which is
plaguing other parts of the country.
However, the
state, region, and local area are not recession‑proof and are
most definitely linked to the national economy. As stated in
previous Quarterly Economic Indicators, this area and the state
are in a reasonably good position to handle this downturn if and
when it eventuates for a number of reasons. Our region is
diverse in its economic makeup. The wide variety of activities
in our region helps spread employment out over a large number of
employers. Further, excessive financial speculation which nags
other parts of the country is not evident in
Wisconsin
or our region. Further, our area should be able to weather any
downturn much better than during the recession of the early
1980s due in part to a concerted effort by Wisconsin businesses
to streamline operations and become more competitive in the
global marketplace.
Total nonfarm
employment is presented in Table 7 for
Wood County. Only services and government employment grew from a
year ago. Manufacturing, trade, and construction were all below
last year's totals. Overall Wood County industrial employment
was relatively stable. The number of jobs fell slightly from
36,840 to 36,810, a net loss of 30. The Marshfield Employment
Index an estimator of local economic conditions, declined by 0.5
percent since December 1989. Thus, employment in Marshfield is
estimated to be at about the same level or slightly lower than
the previous year.
Local merchants
feel that store traffic and sales were at about the same level
as a year ago, Table 8. Further, store
traffic and sales are expected to be marginally better three
months from now when compared to last spring. Collectively this
group expresses less optimism than usual. Undoubtedly the
negative information concerning the national economy has played
a role in shaping local perceptions of the future.
Help wanted
advertising at the national level took a sharp nose dive when
the index fell by approximately 30 percent signaling a
contraction in the hiring plans of the nation's businesses
Table 9. In Marshfield, the local index
contracted by a scant 3 percent. Thus for all, intents and
purposes, the level of advertising locally has remained
unchanged over the last twelve months.
Table 10 and Table 11
measure local family financial distress. Public assistance data
show that new claims have increased on a monthly average basis
from 26 to 28. Total claims in the
Marshfield
area have contracted by a small percentage dropping by nearly 2
percent from 575 to 565 since last year. Unemployment claims
figures tell a similar story. Here we see that total claims are
down by nearly 6 percent from 1989 and initial claims remain
virtually unchanged, up by approximately 1 percent. This is good
news for the local area given the severe difficulties that other
parts of the country are now 'acing.
The residential
construction scene in Marshfield remains bright (Table
12). Residential permits issued were virtually unchanged
from 1989, while the number of housing units, residential
alteration permits issued, and the estimated value of
alterations were all substantially higher than a year ago. Only
the estimated value of new homes was lower. Thus, the local
area's capital stock continues to grow and add to the tax base
which spreads the tax burden over a larger number of units and
helps keep individual taxes lower and/or helps pay for existing
or new programs.
Nonresidential
construction, a barometer of business sentiment concerning local
viability, was quite strong for fourth quarter 1990,
Table 13. The number of permits and their
estimated value were much higher than last year. Further,
alteration activity remained constant for the area. Thus, once
again, the statistics for fourth quarter suggest that this area
has avoided the recession that is now so highly evident in many
regions of the country.
Financial
statistics shown in Table 14 suggest that
local deposits have grown by 3.4 percent or from $217.7 to
$225.1 million since last year. Bank lending another important
measure of local economic activity grew by a very rapid 7
percent from $160.9 to $172.1 million. The increase in lending
for the area is quite good for the area and compares very
favorably with other parts of the country where lending has been
hurt by the credit crunch.
Clark
County
economic statistics are presented in Table 15
and
Table
16.
The data is provided because Clark County and Marshfield are
interconnected economically and knowledge of economic trends in
Clark County provides for better decision making on the part of
local officials. |
