Beyond the dismal unemployment numbers, what’s happening in Michigan’s economy? Are there spots of growth? Are some regions healthier than others? How do Michigan’s distinct regional economies compare to others in the Great Lakes and across the nation?
New numbers from the feds provide fascinating and provocative answers to those questions.
At the end of September, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis provided detailed estimates of the health of hundreds of regional economies across the United States, including 14 in Michigan. This pulse of regional economies comes in the form of estimates of regional gross domestic product – the total value of all goods and services produced by region. The estimates illustrate how a region’s economy is growing or shrinking and how regional economies stack up against one another.
The Center for Michigan crunched the inflation-adjusted numbers for Michigan and other Great Lakes states. We offer many of charts and details below. The high points:
NO BIG SECRET HERE, BUT GREAT LAKES ECONOMIES LAG THE NATION, AND MICHIGAN REGIONS LAG THE GREAT LAKES: Overall, regional economies across the United States grew an average of 17 percent from 2001-08. The 65 regional economies in the Great Lakes averaged 8 percent growth. Michigan’s 14 regional economies combined shrunk 1 percent.
BEST IN THE WEST: The regional economies of Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, St. Joe-Benton Harbor, Battle Creek, and Holland have all grown and fared better than most of their counterparts elsewhere in Michigan.
MICHIGAN MANUFACTURING REMAINS HUGE: Michigan has lost hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs this decade, but the total manufacturing picture is not as bleak as the jobs picture. The total value of manufactured goods has actually increased this decade in half of Michigan’s 14 regional economies. The total value of manufactured goods rose a whopping 45 percent in Battle Creek, with Holland, Jackson, Lansing, and St. Joe-Benton Harbor also seeing double-digit gains.
HEALTH CARE & EDUCATION ARE THE STARS: Universities, hospitals, and their related research have served as crucial economic engines. All 14 metro economies in Michigan have posted double-digit percentage gains in the broad GDP category of “education and health services.”
SILENT HAMMERS: Construction is down everywhere – off by more than 50 percent in most of Michigan’s regional economies.
GOVERNMENT FEELS THE PAIN: Conventional wisdom suggests it’s only fair for Michigan’s public sector to feel the pain so evident in the private sector. Well, government has felt the pain. The size of government, as measured by GDP, is down in every metro economy in Michigan except Ann Arbor and St. Joe-Benton Harbor.
WE STILL LIKE TO SHOP: The total value of retail trade is up in most metro economies, with double-digit increases in Grand Rapids, Flint, Kalamazoo, and Muskegon.
QUALITY OF LIFE BRINGS ECONOMIC GROWTH: The total value of arts, entertainment, and recreation is up in most metro economies, with biggest gains in Ann Arbor (32%), Lansing (19%), Detroit (16%), and Kalamazoo (13%).
DETAILED CHARTS TRACKING GREAT LAKES & MICHIGAN REGIONAL GDP
The federal government tracks 65 separate regional economies in the Great Lakes states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Regional economies in those Great Lakes states have grown half as fast as regional economies across the United States since 2001…
Michigan suffered most…
Among the Midwest’s 15 largest regional economies, Madison and Minneapolis-St. Paul have fared the best this decade. Detroit has fared worst…
The economies in eight “star” regions in the Great Lakes states have outpaced nationwide growth this decade…
Looking just at Michigan’s 14 regional economies, those in the West have fared better than the rest…
Details for all 14 Michigan regional economies tracked by the federal government can be found in the spreadsheets linked below. More details are available from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (www.bea.gov).
Green boxes in the spreadsheets represent growth. Red boxes represent contraction. NOTE: Blank boxes in the spreadsheets represent details not provided in federal statistics – the level of statistical detail available from the feds varies across each region). Michigan regional economies are listed and linked in alphabetical order.
6 Comments
I thought you might like to look at this information. I will talk to you soon.
Al
This is very important information. Michigan must learn that we have to compete with the states here in the midwest at a minimum but also the world. We can no longer live here in our own little world. It is nice when people can get what they want but there comes a time when we must do what is necessary for the state to prosper. That time is now.
What about numbers for the UP and NE/NW (esp. Traverse City)????
How can we find out what region our hometowns are in?
John, Has anyone done a study to see what is structurally different in Wisconsin and Minnesota where their economies are up and Michigan?
Some people blame unions, others blame taxes, and some blame both. It looks to me like we don’t market our state effectively. We’ve had the bad press attracted by Detroit politics and unfortunately the neighboring cities don’t work hard enough to offset the negatives. Sometimes the Oakland County Executive joins in the the complaining. The auto industry has been taking a beating, especially the auto worker. Buying American is an act of loyalty, patriotism,and economic sense, but greed has been king for the past decade along with beating up on one’s neighbor. He’s a better citizen than many others. Michigan must change its image.