The 33rd annual Oakland County Economic Outlook Luncheon took place on Thursday, April 26, 2018. Dr. Gabriel M. Ehrlich and Donald R. Grimes from the University of Michigan Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics delivered their annual report. For those who want to learn more, the final report will be available online at AdvantageOakland.com.

In general, jobs growth has been steady in Oakland County as we continue to regain our losses after the devastating effects of the 2008 crash of the economy. It’s hard to believe that the crash that started the Great Recession began nearly ten years ago. A few facts worth noting is the Detroit area CPI is expected to be 1.7% in 2019 and 1.9% in 2020. While job growth has slowed down a bit, it is being forecasted to increase from 1.2% in 2017 to 1.7% in 2018, 1.9% in 2019, and 2.1% in 2020. This is the period of time covered by the outlook. The Oakland County unemployment rate in 2017 ran nine-tenths of a percentage point below the U.S. rate at 3.5% verses 4.4%. There is so much more to the report that goes far beyond the brevity of a blog post. You can learn much more in June by reviewing the report in its entirety at the website contained herein.

Thomas A. Tange, City Manager