“Statistically, this month's survey of purchasing managers in West Michigan is about as flat as it can possibly be.”
Brian G. Long is director of Supply Management Research in the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University.
“However, it is our automotive parts producers that are holding us up. Other industries like office furniture are softening. But again, I say softening, not collapsing like we would expect in a recession.”
Long points out the most important survey index is new orders. When demand is strong companies invest in materials, equipment, and human resources.
“So, right now, with most of our resent orders indexes turning in flat or stable, we have to declare that the west Michigan economy is stable; neither expanding nor contracting.”
Long says nothing currently points to an impending recession. Rather, a slowdown or what several economists are calling a “soft landing.”