The Senate Fiscal Agency released its
economic indicator report showing improvements in a few categories at both the
state and per-person level. Personal income in the state increased 3.5 percent
in 2012 and per-person increased by 3.4 percent. The 3.5 percent on the state
level mirrors the average increase experienced nationally and places Michigan’s
growth 22nd out of the 50 states. The per-person increase of 3.4
percent is greater than the national average of 2.7 percent, ranking Michigan 8th
out of the 50 states.
Both Corporate and Domestic profits increased
in 2012 after having considerable rises in the previous year as well. Corporate
profits increased by 6.8 percent and Domestic profits had an increase of 9.5
percent in 2012. Corporate profits exceeded $2 trillion in the fourth quarter,
marking the highest level in the post-World War II era in both nominal and
inflation-adjusted terms.
Unemployment rates also decreased among most
Michigan cities and Ann Arbor once again had the lowest rate of 5.3 percent,
although that represented no change since last January. The unemployment rate
in January of last year for the Detroit-Warren-Livonia area was 11.3 percent
but that decreased to 10.2 percent in February of this year. The majority of
areas in Michigan had the unemployment rate decrease by approximately 0.7
percent.