DETROIT, June 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Detroit Area Business Activity Index held at 106 in May. The readings for April and May are the lowest since June 2003. Over the past two months, the Detroit index has been running about 6 percent below the average for all of 2005.

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"The Detroit regional economy continued to look pretty soft last month," said Dana Johnson, chief economist at Comerica Bank. "The downsizing of our auto manufacturing sector is the main problem, but elevated gasoline prices, rising interest rates, and slowing national growth are adding to the headwinds holding back activity."

Comerica Bank compiles the Detroit Area Business Activity Index (DABAI) monthly from eight different measures of regional activity which are seasonally adjusted, corrected for inflation, and expressed as an index, with 1996 as base year equal to 100. The Economics Department of Comerica Bank has calculated the DABAI monthly since 1957; depicting Metro-Detroit's economy 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 & Chief Economist of
Comerica Bank, +1-734-930-2401, +1-800-895-7708

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