May 2014 Newsletter: Partner Happenings: "Experts, Consumers Weigh in on Southeastern Michigan Economic Outlook"

The Southeast Michigan Economic Outlook from Oakland University’s business school economists offers a comprehensive overview of key economic indicators and expert predictions, as well as the only look at consumer and business confidence in Southeast Michigan.

The forward-looking reports, which provide information about future economic growth, signal gradual advancement in the local economy for 2014. Business executives and the GoldStar panel of economic experts are both more optimistic than consumers about the economy in 2014.

Consumer confidence is the weakest indicator, remaining barely above neutral for the third consecutive quarter. Consumers traditionally lag business executives in their expectations about the economy. Consumers tend to focus on labor market conditions such as employment and wages, which improves after the economy experiences robust growth. Interestingly, consumers in Detroit and Pontiac are significantly more optimistic than those in the remainder of the tri-county area.

The gap between consumers and the business executives and GoldStar panel is also evident in this quarter's policy question about raising the minimum wage. Consumers generally support the idea, while business executives and the panel do not. Comments from the panel of experts focus on the loss of low skill jobs due to the minimum wage increase and the fact that this will not change the proportion of the US population below the poverty line. The panel of expert economists is forecasting modest economic improvement in 2014 and 2015 for Southeastern Michigan.

The Southeastern Michigan Economic Outlook Project is a comprehensive quarterly view of the Southeastern Michigan economy. Viewpoints of consumers, business leaders and experts on the local economy are presented along with data from key economic sectors. Results provide insight into future economic growth. Drs. Jonathan Silberman and Ron Tracy, Oakland University Economics Professors in the business school lead the project.

Additional Information:

Comprehensive Overview in INFOGRAPHIC

Individual Reports:

Policy Forum: Experts and business executives at odds with consumers over question to raise minimum wage to $10 an hour

Consumer Confidence: Consumers in all income, age and geographic categories continue to slowly gain confidence in their financial futures for 2014. The outlook for 2015 is notably more optimistic.

Business Confidence: Business optimism surges for second quarter

Expert Panel: Experts forecast moderate expansion in 2014 for SE MI economy; expansion continues in 2015