KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — The weather is warming up and so is the west Michigan economy, Kalamazoo-based industrial economist Brian Long said.
He said, after a slight slowdown at the end of last year, the numbers from March show that new orders were up, production was higher and purchases were also up double digits.
Long also said the employment picture is the best it has been since the end of the Great Recession, with unemployment in Holland at 3.1 percent and 3.6 percent in Kalamazoo. The rest of the area close behind.
He said the path, at least for the next few months, appears to be clear for more positive growth in the area. He said some of the factors which were dogging the economy as the year began, including crude oil prices and troubles in China appear to be moderating.
