Last month, President Obama visited Michigan to tout the success of the GM/Chrysler bailout. Despite criticism, the bailouts have been an unqualified success.
That success continued today with two new reports that indicate Michigan is leading the nation out of recession.
The first report indicates that Michigan led the nation in job growth during July. The second shows that Michigan's economic activity index increased by the largest amount in six years.
Tom Walsh, the business reporter at the Detroit Free Press, has some information about the jobs numbers:
One month of encouraging jobs data is hardly enough to declare a rip-roaring recovery of Michigan's feeble economy -- but it's nothing to sneeze at, either.
"There's no guarantee, but evidence is building that Michigan has finally turned the corner. The private sector is starting to grow again," James Hohman, a fiscal policy analyst with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, told me Tuesday after he blogged about Michigan leading the nation in job growth, with a gain of 27,800 jobs in July.
The state has added jobs in three of the past four months, Hohman said, and "that hasn't happened for a long time."
Freep
Crain's Detroit Business published details about the economic activity index increase:
The Michigan Economic Activity Index climbed three points in July to 87, up 16 points from a year ago and the largest year-on-year increase in the index in nearly six years.
"After trending sideways in a two-point range for five consecutive months, our index rose to its highest level in more than two years," said Dana Johnson, the chief economist for Comerica Bank, in a press release. Comerica conducts the survey.
Crain's
President Obama has been hammered by a tremendous amount of bad news. However, there is no doubt that he has helped Michigan. And note that Michigan has essentially been in recession since the year 2000. As a resident of the Great Lakes State, it is almost unbelievable that we are now starting to lead the nation in positive economic statistics.
One would hope that these statistics are the start of a larger, nationwide recovery. That might not be the case. However, Michigan has three very competitive congressional district races this year. These localized state statistics could become the basis for successful runs in those districts and, perhaps, the governor's race.
Note: The Mackinac Center is a conservative/libertarian think tank. Tom Walsh writes from a conservative/business perspective. So, these are rock solid, bipartisan reports.