Job trends in the metro Milwaukee area showed continuing strength in April, according to a report by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC).
Overall, 17 of 23 monthly business activity indicators registered year-over-year growth in April, down from the 18 upward pointing indicators in March.
“April’s rate of job growth for the metro area reached its highest level (year-over-year) in almost 22 years – since June, 1989,” said Bret Mayborne, the MMAC’s economic research director. “Yet in aggregate the number of positive indicators recorded monthly has trended slightly downward since the beginning of the year.”
Highlights of the new report include:
Nonfarm employment in the metro area averaged 826,000 in April, a 2.9 percent increase over year ago levels. April’s gain marks the tenth consecutive year-over-year increase and ranks as the fastest such gain recorded since June, 1989.
Among major industry sectors, seven of ten registered year-over-year job increases in April. The other services sector posted the largest percentage gain, up 8.1 percent. Three of ten major industry sectors posted April job declines with the 6.7 percent drop in the construction, mining & natural resources sector ranking as the biggest percentage fall.
 Indicators of manufacturing activity registered solid gains in April. Manufacturing employment rose 4.4 percent vs. year-ago levels, up from March’s 3.4 percent year-over-year gain. In addition the length of the average workweek for manufacturing production workers rose 1.2 percent in April to 41.7 hours.
Unemployment indicators were mixed in April. The number of unemployed in the metro area continued on a downward path started one year ago. The unemployed numbered 60,900 in April, down 14.6 percent from one year ago. Conversely, new unemployment compensation claims rose for the first time in eighteen months vs. year-ago levels (since November, 2009), up 2.4 percent to 10,250. The metro area’s seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate for April fell to 7.6 percent, down 1.5 percentage points from one year ago. The local rate ranks higher than the 7.4 percent rate posted statewide but is below the nation’s 8.7 percent figure.
Employment levels in the metro area rose at a 2.9 percent pace in April, averaging 826,000. Milwaukee’s growth stands above the 1.1 percent gain posted nationally and registered the strongest percentage gain among the 21 comparable metro areas tracked by the MMAC.
Hours and earnings indicators for manufacturing production workers recorded gains in April. The length of the average work week for manufacturing production workers rose 1.2 percent, to 41.7 hours, up from the 0.5 percent increase registered in March. Earnings indicators for area production workers rose in April but at rates below consumer price inflation. Average weekly earnings for such workers rose 2.3 percent to $736, while average hourly earnings rose 1.1 percent, to $17.65.
Double-digit declines were posted in area housing and real estate indicators in April. Existing home sales in the metro area fell 30 percent, to 897, this indicator’s third consecutive year-over-year decrease. Mortgages recorded in Milwaukee County fell at a 23.6 percent pace, to 1,799. April’s decline is significantly higher than March’s 7 percent fall and the sharpest decrease posted since August, 2010 (vs. year-ago levels).
New-car registrations rose for the fourth consecutive month, up 17.4 percent from one year ago to 3,127. April’s gain surpasses the 16.6 percent increase posted in March and marks the fastest year-over-year gain posted in this four month period.
Air passenger figures for General Mitchell International Airport rose for the 20th consecutive month, up 1.4 percent in April, to 844,453.
The value of signed construction contracts, as reported by F.W. Dodge for March, was $47.4 million, up 19.1 percent from March, 2010.

Rosemont, Ill.-based First Hospitality Group plans to convert the 125-year-old Loyalty Building at 611 N. Broadway in downtown Milwaukee into a 128-room Hilton Garden Inn hotel, said Jim Stephenson, vice president of facilities for First Hospitality Group.
The plans will be reviewed by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission on Monday, June 13. The architect for the project is Milwaukee-based Kahler Slater.
First Hospitality Group purchased the six-story, 92,000-square-foot Loyalty Building and the 137-year-old, 45,975-square-foot Mackie Building at 225 E. Michigan St. in March. The company plans to convert the Loyalty Building from an office building into the hotel and will maintain the Mackie Building as an office building, while using the Grain Exchange Room in the Mackie Building for events utilizing the Hilton Garden Inn in the Loyalty Building.
BizTimes Milwaukee first reported on First Hospitality Group’s plans for the buildings in October, but only now are details about the size of the hotel and the flag for the hotel becoming public knowledge.
The Hilton Garden Inn is a select service hotel brand. In addition to the 128 guest rooms, the hotel in the Loyalty Building will have meeting space, a restaurant and bar and a fitness center, according to documents submitted to the Historic Preservation Commission.
The firm plans to begin construction “ASAP,” said Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman, who represents the downtown area.
“They’re full speed ahead,” Bauman said. “They said they’re going to have it open by next summer.”
Stephenson declined to provide additional comments.
First Hospitality Group will not be seeking any tax incremental financing (TIF) from the city for the Loyalty Building project, but may seek TIF from the city “down the road” for future improvements to the Mackie Building, which has foundation problems, Bauman said.

The Greater Milwaukee Business Foundation on Health Inc. has released the results of its fourth study on overall health care costs in southeastern Wisconsin, indicating that in comparison with the Midwest average, health care commercial premium costs for 2009 in southeastern Wisconsin were 8 percent higher than average costs in the Midwest.
“The difference between average health care premium costs in southeast Wisconsin and the Midwest average was relatively unchanged from the 2007 study we completed,” said Ron Dix, executive director of the Foundation. “In 2007 average healthcare premium costs were shown to be 9 percent higher and they were 8 percent higher in 2009,” Dix said.
According to Dix, previously conducted studies showed that the cost of health care premiums in 2000 were 55 percent higher than the Midwest average and 39 percent higher than the Midwest average in 2003. The most recent study was conducted using data from 2009.
The study used the same methodologies as the foundation’s three previous studies on this topic to ensure that accurate comparisons can be drawn among the studies. Consulting firms Mercer and Milliman authored the study, and the findings are based on the analysis of 2009 combined employer and employee health care premium costs of commercial health plan members under the age of 65.
The study included residents of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Ozaukee, Kenosha, Walworth and Washington counties. 
The study indicated that factors including a higher average age of participants in southeastern Wisconsin and richer plan designs from employers may contribute to higher average costs in southeastern Wisconsin.
“In order to drive area health care premium costs down to the Midwest average, we will need to address the two key drivers of this healthcare premium cost discrepancy – reimbursement levels to providers and benefit plans offered by employers,” said Dix.  “Unless provider reimbursement levels and benefit plan design come more into line with those of our colleagues in the Midwest, it is difficult to imagine that overall costs in southeast Wisconsin will approach the Midwest average.”

Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc., the nation's largest health benefits provider in terms of medical membership, announced today it has entered into an agreement to acquire CareMore, a senior focused health care delivery program.
CareMore, which is based in Cerritos, Calif., provides Medicare Advantage plans and clinics designed to deliver proactive, integrated individualized health care in select California, Arizona and Nevada markets.
Wellpoint, which is the licensee for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin, said the acquisition exemplifies its strategic plans to capitalize on new opportunities for growth in the changing marketplace.
"The Medicare market is particularly significant for WellPoint's growth strategy," said Angela Braly, chair, president and chief executive officer of WellPoint. "We anticipate that more than one million baby boomers will age into Medicare every year between now and 2030 across our 14 Blue states."
"In the last five years we have worked diligently to create and demonstrate the CareMore model can produce superior clinical and financial results in diverse markets," said Alan Hoops, chairman and chief executive officer of CareMore. "We are excited about the opportunities to combine our capabilities with the market presence nationwide of WellPoint and expand the CareMore model within WellPoint's markets."

Sheboygan Falls-based Johnsonville Sausage Inc. today officially introduced its new Chicken Sausage, with “50 percent less fat and 100 percent Johnsonville taste.”
Available in three varieties - Apple, Three Cheese Italian Style and Chipotle Monterey Jack Cheese - Johnsonville Chicken Sausage is now available in select retailers nationwide.
"At Johnsonville, we're always listening to find out exactly what our consumers want in their sausage products," said Chris O'Toole, Johnsonville brand manager. "We understood moms were looking for added variety and better-for-you choices in their sausage selection, and we're pleased to be able to answer that desire for more variety with our new Chicken Sausage."
The new products are fully cooked sausages, meaning consumers simply heat the links through.

Australian scientist David E. J. Garman, a specialist in water resources and pollution control, has been named as the founding dean of the graduate School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM).
His appointment will become effective Sept. 1.
Garman comes to UWM from the Environmental Biotechnology Cooperative Research Centre (EBCRC) in Eveleigh, New South Wales, Australia, where he has been executive director since 1996. The EBCRC brings together the multidisciplinary skills of researchers, engineers and industry participants to discover novel technologies for environmental and other applications.
The UWM School of Freshwater Sciences is the only graduate school in the nation dedicated solely to the study of freshwater issues.
“Dr. Garman brings tremendous experience to our university and represents exactly what we want our new school to become: an international leader in the field of freshwater sciences,” said UWM Chancellor Michael Lovell. “His agreeing to become the founding dean of the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences is an indication that there is global recognition of our region’s potential to be a world leader in water research, policy and technology development.”
“David Garman brings a truly global perspective on freshwater science that bridges the public and private sectors. His experience in developing and applying water technology solutions throughout the world is uniquely suited to advancing the School of Freshwater Sciences’ goal of being in the forefront of water research globally,” said UWM Provost Johannes Britz.

Schlitz Park co-owner and developer Gary Grunau this week unveiled details of the $30 million renovation plans for the office complex on the north side of downtown Milwaukee. For more details about the renovation, including a slideshow of architectural sketches, view the new edition of the BizTimes Real Estate Weekly bulletin.

Schreiber Foods will build a new corporate headquarters and global technology center on the site of the closed Washington Commons mall in downtown Green Bay. The $50 million project will include the empty J.C. Penney Co. building east of the mall and the Days Inn building west of it. Mayor Jim Schmitt said Schreiber will have about 550 employees on site. Read more in today’s edition of the BizTimes Wisconsin Morning Headlines bulletin.

A Republican plan endorsed by Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald to plant “fake Democrats” to force a primary race at the expense of taxpayers is a stupid idea, according to Jim Wigderson, author of today’s Milwaukee Biz Blog.