DETROIT, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Detroit Area Business Activity Index rebounded 2 points in November to 100, after falling 10 points cumulatively over the prior two months. Even after the up tick in November, the latest reading is still down 9 percent from November 2005. For the first 11 months of 2006, the Detroit index has averaged 5 percent less than it did in 2005.

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"The direct and indirect impacts of cuts in the auto industry have visibly slowed the Detroit metro economy in the second half of 2006," said Dana Johnson, Chief economist at Comerica Bank. "Unusually mild winter weather may give the local economy a temporary boost. But with Ford cutbacks sure to be sizable and with the national economy growing sluggishly, our index probably will move lower on balance over the first half of 2007."

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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