Slightly better! That's the latest word on the greater Grand Rapids economy, according to the data collected in the last two weeks of June. New orders, our closely watched index of business improvement, bounced to +26, up from +5. The production index reversed itself to +14, up from -21. Activity in the purchasing offices, our index of purchases remained slightly negative at -3, but was vastly improved over the -32 we reported last month. Although still in negative territory, it was encouraging to see the index of employment come back to -4, a vast improvement over lasts month's -37. This of course means that layoffs are subsiding. Is this finally the beginning of the recovery? Perhaps. However, one month does NOT constitute a trend. The General Motors bankruptcy is just starting to unfold, and the recovery for the Detroit Three is still nowhere in sight. |