“The pace has slowed more than we expected, and because of shortages and the tariffs, our industrial price index is now the highest level it’s been since the Covid crisis.”
That’s Brian G. Long, Director of Supply Chain Management Research in the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University. He says those headwinds are increasing uncertainty about the future.
“For the industrial purchasers in our survey, inflation is going wild. And some respondents in our survey say they’ve never seen it so bad.”
The West Michigan Business Trends survey revealed Business Confidence ticked downward from August and Consumer Confidence has slid over the past six months to near historic lows.
Long explains that West Michigan’s office furniture manufacturers are currently redefining their market strategies.
“And the auto parts producers that got trapped producing too many electric vehicles are in trouble as well.”
But long points out the West Michigan economy is diversified keeping the areas unemployment rate below the state’s average. He says local employment remains modestly positive