DETROIT, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Detroit Area Business Activity Index rebounded to 109 in July, up 4 points from June and its highest reading since March. Even so, the latest reading is down about 2 1/2 percent from last July. So far this year, the Detroit index has averaged about 3 percent less than it did in 2005.

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"A spike in steel production and in electric power demand accounted for most of the strength in July," said Dana Johnson, chief economist at Comerica Bank. "Given the recent announcements of further production and employment cutbacks in the auto sector, I very much doubt that the July reading for our index is the start of an improving trend."

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, or +1-800-895-7708

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