DETROIT – Leaders of the state’s largest companies see both the state and national economies improving over the next year-and-a-half, Business Leaders for Michigan said in releasing its latest forecast.
The survey showed 60 percent of business leaders expect both economies to improve in the next six months. That was up from 48 percent for the state economy and 30 percent for the national economy last quarter.
They are more optimistic for the long-term, with 76 percent seeing the state economy improving over the next 18 months, and 71 percent seeing the national economy up over that period. In the last quarterly report, 60 percent saw state growth and 40 percent saw national growth.
“Michigan’s largest employers reported much stronger confidence in Michigan’s and the U.S. economy since the third quarter forecast,” Doug Rothwell, BLM president and CEO, said in a statement. “The national outlook has improved for a variety of reasons – lower energy prices, good job numbers and America’s relative economic strength compared to other regions. In Michigan, the November election results had a positive impact on the future outlook. What’s interesting is that this is the first time in nearly three years that the outlook for the national and state economies are nearly the same.”
With that optimism, nearly half are expecting to add jobs and some 40 percent will make capital investments.
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