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Auto Strength Keys March Purchasing Managers Report - Comerica

31 March 2000

Auto Strength Keys March Purchasing Managers Report - Comerica

    DETROIT, March 30 Members of the National Association of
Purchasing Management-Metro Detroit (NAPM-MD), surveyed in March by Detroit-
based Comerica Bank, reported a 0.8-point increase from February in overall
business conditions for Southeast Michigan's industrial economy.
    Comerica's composite index for the local economy, which is based on the
survey, stood at 57.2 in March, compared with 56.4 in February.  A year
earlier, the index stood at 52.6.  "The local economy was pushed higher by
strength from the automotive sector, as production, new orders and employment
all accelerated," said David L. Littmann, chief economist with Comerica Bank.
"Although auto-related strength prevailed in March, one survey respondent in
the non-automotive sector observed his firm had turned down orders because of
labor scarcity," Littmann noted.  "Fortunately, pricing pressures, though
still strongly up-trending, abated modestly in March," he added.
    Comerica's composite index is based on surveys of local purchasing
managers belonging to the 500-member National Association of Purchasing
Management-Metro Detroit.  The index is a seasonally-adjusted weighted average
measure of new orders and production activity, employment, inventories, and
promptness of supplier deliveries.  It ranges from 0 to 100.  A composite
index below 50 generally means conditions are deteriorating; levels above 50
denote expansion.

                           AUTO              NON-AUTO             TOTAL
                       FEB     MAR         FEB     MAR         FEB     MAR

    NAPM-MD
    Composite Index    56.1    63.6        56.5    54.4        56.4    57.2
    Production         62.5    70.0        57.1    55.9        58.5    60.2
    New Orders         58.3    68.8        61.1    61.4        60.4    63.7
    Inventories        46.2    43.3        45.7    48.4        45.8    46.8
    Employment         53.6    71.9        52.7    51.3        52.9    57.4
    Vendor Performance 46.2    56.7        54.1    55.7        52.0    56.0
    Prices             76.9    65.6        66.2    59.5        69.0    61.3

    Weighting          27.4    30.0        72.6    70.0       100.0   100.0

    Comerica Bank, the largest bank in Michigan, is a subsidiary of Comerica
Incorporated , a multi-state financial services provider
headquartered in Detroit, with banking subsidiaries in Michigan, California
and Texas, banking operations in Florida, and businesses in several other
states.  Comerica also operates banking subsidiaries in Canada and Mexico.