DALLAS, July 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Comerica Bank's California Economic Activity Index improved in April, increasing 0.7 percentage points to a level of 119.7. April's reading is 36 points, or 43 percent, above the index cyclical low of 84.0. The index averaged 113.7 points for all of 2014, seven and one-half points above the average for all of 2013. March's index reading was 119.0.

"The California economy gained momentum after a soft first quarter. Our California Economic Activity Index picked up in April after little change over the previous three months. The state economy is large, diverse and resilient. Port activity is renormalizing. The high tech sector remains strong. Real estate markets in Northern California are super tight. Southern California conditions are tightening too," said Robert Dye, Chief Economist at Comerica Bank. "Of course, water resources are a potentially binding constraint. Drought conditions are hurting the agricultural economy and may exert an increasing drag on real estate development."

The California Economic Activity Index consists of eight variables, as follows: nonfarm payrolls, exports, hotel occupancy rates, continuing claims for unemployment insurance, housing starts, national defense spending, home prices, and the NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index (NDXT). 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 103 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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SOURCE Comerica Bank