MMAC: Milwaukee-area economy still sluggish - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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Only three of 20 April indicatorws registered improvementfrom year-ago levels, matching the numbe r of upward-pointing indicators recorded in March, the MMAC said in its Economicc Trends report. "The employment situatiohn continued to deteriorate with deepening job declines and unemploymenr indicators over double what they were one year saidBret Mayborne, economic research director for the "But metro area existing homes sales rose for only the seconrd time in nearly three years giving some hope for near-term improvement in a stagnant local housingf and real estate market." Nonfarm employmenft in the metro area fell 4.8 percent in Aprilo to 812,300, down from March’s 4.
3 percent Employment levels have now declined compared with year-agi levels in each of the past 12 with April’s decline being the steepest registered in this period, the MMAC Only two of 10 major industryh sectors registered April job gains compared with one year ago, whil eight registered declines. Unemployment indicatorsx for the metro area both measurefd more than twicetheir year-earlier The number of unemployed in metrlo Milwaukee rose 117.6% against year-ago to 70,300 compared with 32,300 in April 2008. new unemployment compensation claimds rose ata 104.
6 percent rate in Aprilp to 12,101, this indicator’s third consecutive year-over-year increase of 100 percent or greater. On the positivse side, existing homes sales for the metro arearose 5.6 percent in April, the first year-over-year increase in this indicatorr in seven months and only the second such gain in nearlu three years.