DALLAS, July 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Comerica Bank's California Economic Activity Index improved by 0.1 percentage points in May to a level of 120.6. May's reading is 37 points, or 43 percent, above the index cyclical low of 84.1. The index averaged 119.8 points for all of 2015, six and two-fifths points above the average for all of 2014. April's index reading was 120.5.

"The Comerica Bank California Economic Activity Index improved again in May after gaining in April. The California Index is still caught in the range established since mid-2015. Recent improvements in technology stock prices will help lift the index as we report mid-year results. Job growth for the state has been choppy on a month-to-month basis, but still remains stronger than the U.S. average over the previous year. House prices in San Francisco dipped in April and May, and are now showing a 6.5 percent gain over the past year. This is well down from the near 25 percent year-over-year gains reported in mid-to-late 2013," said Robert Dye, Chief Economist at Comerica Bank. "We expect to see slower house price appreciation in Northern California through the remainder of this year."

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 102 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.

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SOURCE Comerica Bank