Comerica Bank's California Index Improves in June

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Aug 26, 2014, 02:00 ET

DALLAS, Aug. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Comerica Bank's California Economic Activity Index grew in June, advancing 0.4 percentage points to a level of 113.3. June's reading is 41 points, or 56 percent, above the index cyclical low of 72.6. The index averaged 106 points for all of 2013, five points above the average for all of 2012. May's index reading was unchanged at 112.9.

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Comerica Bank's California Economic Activity Index Improves in June. (PRNewsFoto/Comerica Bank)

"Our California Economic Activity Index resumed its upward track in June, consistent with steady gains in state payroll employment since February. Overall, our California Index has been mixed through 2014, declining in four out of the first six months of this year. However, as the graph above shows, the level of the index has been trending up, indicating an overall improving economic climate for California," said Robert Dye, Chief Economist at Comerica Bank. "We expect to see ongoing gains for the California economy through the second half of 2014."

The California Economic Activity Index consists of eight variables, as follows: nonfarm payrolls, exports, sales tax revenues, hotel occupancy rates, continuing claims for unemployment insurance, building permits, Baker Hughes rotary rig count and the Silicon Valley 150 Index (SV150). All data are seasonally adjusted, as necessary, and indexed to a base year of 2008. Nominal values have been converted to constant dollar values. Index levels are expressed in terms of three-month moving averages.

Comerica Bank, with 104 banking centers in the key California markets of San Francisco and the East Bay, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Fresno, Sacramento, Santa Cruz/Monterey, and the Inland Empire, is a subsidiary of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA). Comerica is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned into three major business segments: the Business Bank, the Retail Bank, and Wealth Management. Comerica focuses on relationships and helping businesses and people be successful. To find Comerica on Facebook, please visit www.facebook.com/ComericaCares.

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