Purchasing managers from West and Southwest Michigan report their January new orders and production levels remain soft. The ongoing tariff wars are weighing on local manufacturers.
“For some of our survey respondents, they remain a major problem and a significant inhibitor of growth.”
Brian G. Long is Director of Supply Chain Management Research in the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University. He points out Michigan has the fifth highest unemployment rate in the nation.
“And there's been numerous factors that have slowed the Michigan economy. For instance, we ran into bad luck overestimating the number of electrical vehicles we were going to build, and locally, the office furniture business has slowed but not collapsed, but it finds itself redefining itself. More importantly though, we are getting complaints that the business climate in Michigan has worsened in recent years.”
The January survey did reveal business confidence is significantly positive. The short-term business outlook also returned to positive territory and the three-to-five-year outlook is significantly higher.