DALLAS, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Comerica Bank's Michigan Business Activity Index rebounded 2 points in July after falling 4 points in June. Compared to a year earlier, the July index is down 4 points on balance. Over the first seven months of 2008, the index has averaged 3 percent below the average for all of 2007.
"Big swings in auto production have made our index unusually volatile over the last three months," said Dana Johnson, Chief Economist at Comerica Bank. "Abstracting from those sharp swings, our index confirms that the state economy is contracting quite sharply in 2008. I expect our index to continue to trend lower over the balance of the year, as weakness in the national economy and the turmoil in financial markets prolongs Michigan's downturn."
The Michigan Business Activity Index equally weights nine, seasonally-adjusted coincident indicators of real economic activity. These indicators reflect activity in the construction, manufacturing, and service sectors as well as job growth and consumer outlays. Historical data is available upon request.
Comerica Incorporated is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned by three business segments: The Business Bank, The Retail Bank, and Wealth & Institutional Management. Comerica focuses on relationships, and helping people and businesses be successful. In addition to Texas, Comerica Bank locations can be found in Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan, with select businesses operating in several other states, as well as in Canada, China and Mexico. Comerica reported total assets of $66 billion as of June 30, 2008.
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