Contact: Bill Rubin/Jacki Bradham, St. Croix EDC, 715-381-4383
The July 2012 edition of the St. Croix Valley Economic Dashboard has been released by the Center for Economic Research (CER) at UW-River Falls and St. Croix Economic Development Corporation (SCEDC). The dashboard is a snapshot of the economic condition of the labor, consumer and housing markets in the seven county St. Croix Valley, which includes the Wisconsin counties of Polk, St. Croix, Pierce, and Dunn and the Minnesota counties of Chisago, Ramsey and Washington. It presents the latest available data in one convenient package (note: most regional data is available with a one or two month delay).
The Dashboard can be viewed on the CER’s website at http://www.uwrf.edu/cer.
Dr. Logan Kelly, director of the CER, conducts research for the Dashboard and offered his observations:
State and National Indicators
“The U.S. seasonally adjusted annually growth rate for the first quarter of 2012 was revised down slightly to 1.9 percent, which is 1.5 percentage points higher than the previous quarter. The national unemployment rate remained at 8.3 percent, down 1.0 percent from a year ago.”
“In Wisconsin, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in June, by 0.7 percent, and the unemployment rate declined 0.8 percent from a year ago to 6.8 percent, but has increased 1.0 percent from April of this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) survey of households. Employment increased in manufacturing; transportation and warehousing; wholesale trade; education; and health services, but declined heavily in construction, mining and logging. The public sector showed a slight decrease, posting a loss of about 1,500 jobs last month.”
“The BLS survey of households finds that Wisconsin has gained 14,000 jobs over the last year. However, the BLS survey of employers finds that Wisconsin lost 19,600 jobs over the last year. The two surveys seem to indicate that much of improvement in the Wisconsin labor market is driven by job creation in neighboring states, not within Wisconsin.”
“Minnesota’s unemployment rate remained unchanged from April at 5.6 percent, which was a result of a 0.1 percent increase in employment and a 0.1 percent increase in labor force, according to the BLS survey of households. The BLS survey of employers finds that Minnesota has gained 30,800 jobs over the last year.”
“The Philadelphia Fed’s Coincident Index of economic activity indicated the Wisconsin economy grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.85 percent in May, and the Leading Index is predicting a positive annual growth rate of 1.17 percent over next the six months, which is much lower than last month’s prediction and still too low to expect meaningful labor market recovery. The Minnesota economy contracted at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.32 percent, and the Leading Index is predicting a positive annual growth rate of 1.64 percent over next the six months.”
Labor Market
“The Wisconsin economy lost 13,200 jobs net in the month of May and has lost 19,000 jobs since May 2011. The Minnesota economy gained 7,200 jobs net in May and has gained 32,500 jobs over the last year.”
“In May, Wisconsin lost jobs in all major sectors but two, Education and Health Services and Mining/Logging, which essentially remained the same. The most significant job losses came in the Leisure and Hospitality sector (-5,300 jobs), Other Services (-2,400 jobs), Financial Activities (-1,700 jobs), and Government Services (-1,500 jobs).”
“Minnesota fared much better with increases in 7 major sectors and decreases in only 4 sectors. Minnesota lost jobs in Leisure and Hospitality (-2,300 jobs), Education and Health Services (-1,300 jobs), Construction (-1,100 jobs), and Trade (-300 jobs). Minnesota made headway in the sectors of Professional and Business Services (+5,100 jobs) and Government and Other Services (+4,500 jobs), Manufacturing (+1,100 jobs), Information (+1,100 jobs), and Financial Activities (+400 jobs).”
See Wisconsin and Minnesota Job Creation by Sector tables
The Wisconsin/Minnesota St. Croix Valley is comprised of St. Croix, Polk, Pierce and Dunn counties in Wisconsin and Chisago, Ramsey and Washington counties in Minnesota. All seven counties are located along the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. Five of the seven counties, St. Croix, Pierce, Chisago, Ramsey and Washington, are included in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI metropolitan area, a 13-county region with of population of 3.3 million residents.
For additional information on the July edition of the St. Croix Valley Economic Dashboard, contact Dr. Logan Kelly at cer@uwrf.edu or (715) 425-4993 or William Rubin at bill@stcroixedc.com or (715) 381-4383.
