DETROIT, March 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Michigan Business Activity Index compiled by Comerica Bank was 104 in February, matching the downwardly revised reading for January. So far in 2006, our index is running about 2 1/2 percent below the average for 2005.

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"Most of the components of our index are moving sideways, but motor vehicle production and sales in Michigan are still trending lower," according to Dana Johnson, chief economist at Comerica Bank. "The state has made real progress in developing a more diversified economy, but job and income losses centered in the auto sector make it virtually inevitable that Michigan will again appreciably lag the national economy in 2006."

The Michigan Business Activity Index (MBAI) represents ten different measures of Michigan economic activity compiled monthly by the Economics Department of Comerica Bank. The MBAI is seasonally adjusted, corrected for inflation, and expressed as an index, with 1996 as base year equal to 100. The MBAI series has been calculated monthly since 1957 and depicts state economic activity over seven full swings of the U.S. business cycle.

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA) is a financial services company headquartered in Detroit, strategically aligned by three business segments: The Business Bank, The Retail Bank, and Wealth & Institutional Management. Comerica focuses on relationships and helping businesses and people to be successful.

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SOURCE: Comerica Bank

CONTACT: Dana Johnson, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of
Comerica Bank, +1-734-930-2401 or +1-800-895-7708

Web site: http://www.comerica.com/