Stateline report shows income on the rise in southern Wisconsin
Released: December 18, 2006
Employment and income wages are on the rise again in the counties of Walworth, Rock, Green, Lafayette and Jefferson, according to the fourth issue of the Stateline Economic Report recently released by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Fiscal and Economic Research Center.
According to the latest report, after 4 to 6 years of declining wages, income is on the rise all across the southern region of Wisconsin. The result has been lowered unemployment rates throughout the region.
"This recent increase in income is a welcome sign of recovery," Associate Professor Russ Kashian said. "It has been noted that the recent economic expansion is a recovery without rising income. In a normal recovery, which has been going on since 2001, we would witness rising income after about 18 months. This recovery has finally seen rising wages after about 50 months."
With increased concerns over the past few years on housing sales, many should not be worried. Housing sales continue to remain stable and remain on track to have more homes sold than in the 1990s. According to Kashian, "While sales have been lukewarm, sale prices appear to have hit a floor. In labor economics, we would call this a reservation wage. As a result, perhaps we are seeing the reservation price of housing stand firm."
The State Economic Report also found that more rural areas have fewer retail and service establishments. Due to the lower income and the inability to spend a sufficient amount of money in rural areas, a retail gap has been established. In order to rework this problem it is up to the consumers to start spending more in order for the economy to continue to rise in the rural communities.
"Due to the large amount of tourism in Walworth County, the area appears to have many more retail and service outlets than a comparative county would have, given its demographic and income make-up," Kashian said.
The Stateline Economic Report continues to follow the economic situations for the five southern counties of Wisconsin. All comments for the Stateline Economic Report are welcomed as well as any topics suggestions to be concerned for future topics. For more highlights of the Stateline Economic Report visit: http://www.uww.edu/statelineeconreport/.
For more information, contact Kashian or Professor Jeffery Heinrich at kashianr@uww.edu or heinricj@uww.edu.
- Chad Guild,guildca16@uww.edu
