State expected to outpace U.S. growth

DETROIT, Mich., February 5, 2013 – Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM)is forecasting that Michigan’s economy will grow more than the U.S. economy over the next six to eighteen months.  The forecast is reinforced by 60 percent of BLM members planning to increase hiring in Michigan in just the next six months.  Nearly-two thirds added jobs in Michigan last year.

“The avoidance of the fiscal cliff and slow, but steady domestic growth has boosted the overall economic outlook of Michigan’s largest job providers.  But they remain far more optimistic about Michigan vs. the nation’s economy by the largest margins we have seen since we started conducting these surveys in 2009,” said Doug Rothwell, President & CEO.  “The optimism of the state’s largest job providers for Michigan is based on progress made stabilizing the state’s finances, addressing long-term debt and structural budget deficits and improving the costs of doing business here.  These are the same issues they feel are not being addressed in Washington and are holding the national economy back from full recovery.  They demonstrated that optimism by adding jobs in Michigan last year and planning more this year.  Michigan is not an island and will be affected by slower national growth, but BLM members continue to believe we will out-perform the American economy over the next eighteen months.”

Highlights of the survey of Business Leaders for Michigan include:

• More business leaders (55%) believe Michigan’s economy will grow over the next six months and none believe it will get worse. Yet 68% of business leaders forecast the American economy will be about same over the next six months.

• More Michigan business leaders (82%) believe the state’s economy will grow over the next 18 months, and none believe it will shrink. Yet only 57% of business leaders forecast the American economy will grow in the next 18 months and 15% think it will contract.

• 66% of business leaders added jobs in 2012 and 60% believe their companies will add jobs in 2013.

The results reflect a survey of Business Leaders for Michigan’s 80 executives, the state’s largest private sector job providers that represent nearly one-quarter of the state’s economy.

Quarterly Economic Outlook Reports are available at
businessleadersformichigan.com/research-and-reports.