St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report, Vol. 19, No. 2

St. Cloud-area businesses report strong growth over the past three months, and the area\u27s future outlook remains solid. Pay­roll data indicate overall St. Cloud metropolitan area employ­ment grew at a 1.4 percent annual rate over the year ending April 2017. This is more rapid than the average annual job growth rate of 0.9 of a percent observed since 2002. Once again, the construction sector led the way with nearly double-digit job growth, followed by strong gains in the whole­sale trade and educational/health sectors. On the other hand the financial activities, transportation/warehousing/utilities, manu­facturing, information and leisure/hospitality sectors all experi­enced year-over-year job losses. The leading economic indicator series contracted by 0.11 of a percent in the last quarter. Surveyed firms indicate strong busi­ness activity in the current quarter with higher employee com­pensation and a lengthening of the workweek. They also high­light increased expected difficulty attracting qualified workers over the next six months