DALLAS, July 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Comerica Bank's California Economic Activity Index increased by 1.3 percentage points in May to reach 131.0. May's reading is 47 points, or 56 percent, above the index cyclical low of 84.1. The index averaged 122.4 points in 2016, two and three-fifths points above the average for all of 2015. April's index reading was 129.7.

"Our California Economic Activity Index increased again in May. Revised data show that the index has increased for the 14th consecutive month. Results for May were more broadly positive, with seven out of eight index components increasing. They were nonfarm employment, unemployment insurance claims (inverted), housing starts, defense spending, house prices, hotel occupancy and the Nasdaq 100 Technology stock index. Only state exports declined in May. A cautionary sign comes from state employment growth which has clearly slowed down through the first half of 2017. Weaker job growth may exert more of a drag on the index in the second half of 2017 if current trends continue. The state unemployment rate remains on a downward trend, reaching 4.7 percent in May and June," said Robert Dye, Chief Economist at Comerica Bank. "This ties the historical low for the California unemployment rate, set in late 2000."

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, house 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 locations 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