Real gross domestic product rose by 2.9 percent over the past twelve months with the last three months being especially strong. With the economy gathering momentum, our factories are becoming busier. This is evidenced by the industrial production index which climbed to 114, a 4.7 percent gain from last year. Short term interest rates continued to fall over the course of the year, in part based on the declining inflationary expectations of households. The broadest measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index, rose by 2.7 percent from a year ago. 

     Unemployment rates in the region, state, and nation fell over the course of the year. Portage County's unemployment rate was just 4.8 percent, Marathon County came in at 5.3 percent, and Wood County registered 4.7 percent. For the Central Wisconsin region the seasonally adjusted rate stood at 5.0 percent while the state posted a very low 4.2 percent rate. 

     Employment levels were up in Portage and Marathon Counties. There are now 34.4 and 63.6 thousand people employed in these counties. Wood County fell off the pace with a small decline of 1.3 percent, or 500 positions. There are now 137.1 thousand people employed in the region, representing a gain of 1.0 percent from December 1992. Wisconsin's growth rate was 0.4 percent over the same time period. 

     In terms of industrial sector employment, services, as usual, led the parade with over two thousand jobs being created in this category. Trade employment rose from 30,600 to 31,800, an increase of 1200 positions. This represents a healthy gain of 3.9 percent. Manufacturing and government payrolls were unchanged over the course of the year. In sum, industrial sector job growth was a respectable 2.7 percent from fourth quarter 1992. 

     Key industry employment in Central Wisconsin expanded by 1100 positions or 3.9 percent. This expansion was led by the lumber and wood products industry along with finance, insurance, and real estate. Only paper products employment was down from last year. Lastly, food processing remains unchanged over the course of the year. 

     Regional business people were very much upbeat in their assessment of recent economic developments at the national level. These executives also foresee much improvement in their particular industries, which ultimately means more job growth for our region. 

     In sum, the Wausau‑Marathon County economy continued to grow at a steady pace during fourth quarter 1993. Most of the report's indicators of economic performance were very positive with just a few exceptions. The major highlights for this quarter are that employment, both total and industrial sector, is well above last year's totals, and the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate declined fro 5.8 to 5.3 percent over the year.