Anderson.

• Author: Ritchey, Barry C.
• Position: Economic forecast for Anderson, Indiana and Madison County, Indiana - Brief Article

Sometime during 2001, or 2002 at the very latest, the historical relevance of manufacturing employment will take a back seat to retailing. The status of manufacturing, once the largest employment category for Madison county, will fall to third place behind the services sector and now, retailing. We won't notice it until after the employment numbers are calculated and reported to us later next year. But, clearly the history of Madison County employment will change. Manufacturing will no longer be the primary employment category for the county. Retailing employment will take over that role.

By the end of 2000, the number of manufacturing jobs had decreased to 10,816. The number of retailing jobs in the county stood at 10,336. Our average loss of manufacturing jobs throughout the decade of the 1990s was 500 per year. So it seems very likely that the number of manufacturing jobs in the county will fall below the level of retail employment. Of all the employment categories, manufacturing continues to have the most significant financial impact on the county economy due to its high average wage rates.

The population in Madison County stabilized and grew slightly during the decade of the 1990s. The 2000 census reported an increase in population to over 133,000. The city of Anderson's population also expanded to just under 60,000. The county is still below the population levels of the 1970s (139,000), but we see a reversal of the population loss during the 1980s (-9,000)to a gain in the 1990s (+3,000).

The employment picture has not changed much in the past year. Compared to last year, the number of jobs in the county remains steady at 45,600. However, in the past 10 years the job total has fallen by almost 4 percent. The loss of jobs is clearly being driven by the manufacturing sector. In the year 2000 another 453 manufacturing jobs moved away from the county. The potential closure of Magnaquench would be a significant loss to the local economy. There is clearly no sign of any reversal of the current structural changes.

Employment totals remain high. Over 63,000 residents of Madison County were working in 2000. The average unemployment rate for 2000 was a scant 3.3 percent. Following the national trend, the unemployment rate is rising for 2001, but only slightly. By August 2001, the unemployment rate had only increased to 4.4 percent.

The retail face of Anderson and Madison County has been changing quite a bit this past year. Penney's is now gone...