DALLAS, Aug. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Comerica Bank's California Economic Activity Index grew by 1.3 percentage points in June to 132.3. June's reading is 48 points, or 57 percent, above the index cyclical low of 84.1. The index averaged 122.4 points in 2016, two and seven-tenths points above the average for all of 2015. May's index reading was 131.0.

"Our California Economic Activity Index increased in June for the 15th consecutive month. Five out of eight index components were positive for the month, including unemployment insurance claims (inverted), housing starts, defense spending, house prices and tech stocks. State exports and hotel occupancy declined in June and nonfarm employment was unchanged. Two components of the index stand out as consistent positives for the state economy over the last 12 months, they are house prices and tech stock performance. Of course, these two components are related and a downturn in tech stocks would likely result in a drag on some real estate markets. Hotel occupancy has been a small drag since late 2016," said Robert Dye, Chief Economist at Comerica Bank. "Job growth this year through June has been cooling, but July saw a rebound in state employment growth and that will be supportive of the index going forward."

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