Business Leaders: State Economy to Outpace U.S.

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DETROIT — Business Leaders for Michigan projects that the state’s economy will continue to grow and outperform the U.S. economy in the next six to 18 months.

“The good news from this survey is that Michigan’s largest employers continue to be much more optimistic about Michigan’s short and long-term economic prospects than they were a couple of years ago,“ says Doug Rothwell, Business Leaders for Michigan president and CEO.

Based on Business Leaders for Michigan’s 80 members, the survey’s highlights include:

  • 58 percent of business leaders believe Michigan’s economy will grow while only 37 percent forecast the U.S. economy will grow over the next six months.  None of the respondents believe Michigan’s economy will be worse in the short term.
  • Optimism continues to be high for Michigan’s economy over the long-term, outpacing optimism for the national economy again this quarter. 76 percent of Michigan’s business leaders believing the state’s economy will grow compared to only 59 percent of business leaders forecasting the U.S. economy will grow in the next eighteen months. None of the respondents believe Michigan’s economy will be worse in the long term.  
  • Almost half of business leaders project their companies will add jobs and make capital investments in Michigan over the next six months.

Business Leaders for Michigan is the state’s largest private sector job provider that represents nearly one-third of the state’s economy.

Quarterly Economic Outlook Reports are available at businessleadersformichigan.com.