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Michigan’s economy stumbled in October. 

Comerica Bank’s monthly gauge of Michigan’s economic activity shows a slight dip in October.   The state’s economy spiked up in September. 

Comerica Bank chief economist Dana Johnson says Michigan’s economy has essentially been flat for the past four months.  Johnson says:

 As has been the case in the national economy over the second half of the year, growth in Michigan has been sluggish and uneven. Looking ahead, the Michigan economy is poised to make modest gains in coming months, against a background of gradually accelerating national growth.

The Michigan Economic Activity Index weighs nine, seasonally-adjusted indicators of real economic activity.

These indicators reflect activity in the construction, manufacturing and service sectors as well as job growth and consumer outlays.

It was ground zero for the "arsenal of democracy" in the 1940s. Henry Ford built the giant Willow Run factory to manufacture B-24 bombers in World War II. Later GM took over the building making everything from Chevy trucks, the Caprice, the Nova, Corvairs, and transmissions.

Today, the materials inside the plant are being auctioned off as part of the "Old GM's" bankruptcy reorganization (old GM is now known as the Motors Liquidation Company).

Fewer people bought formerly foreclosed homes in Michigan in the third quarter of the year. 

Federal home buyer tax credits spurred home sales in Michigan and the rest of the country during the first half of the year.  Daren Bloomquist with Realty Trac says July through September home sales slumped without those incentives.  He says Michigan’s foreclosed home sales dipped 26%.

Bloomquist says:

Some of the sales you would have seen in the third quarter were pushed forward to the second quarter.  So, there was a little artificial inflation in those numbers. These numbers in the third quarter are a little bit lower than normal.

People who bought one of the 95 hundred formerly foreclosed homes that sold in Michigan in the third quarter of the year got a good deal.  The average sale price was about 41% cheaper than similar homes sold at the same time.

The city of Pontiac is one step closer to shutting down its Police Department and having the Oakland County Sheriff's Office take over the city's patrols.

Pontiac faces a projected $9 million budget deficit and Michael Stampfler, Pontiac's state-appointed emergency financial manager, has asked the Oakland County Sheriff Department to take over policing the city.

The Detroit Free Press reports:

A committee of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners voted 4-3 Wednesday to approve the $10-million contract. The county's Finance Committee will consider the plan today, and the full board is to vote on it Dec. 9... Undersheriff Mike McCabe said the department is expected to hire more than 60 of the Pontiac department's 70 employees and operate out of the city's headquarters in downtown Pontiac.

If approved, the Oakland County Sheriff Department would takeover on January 1st, 2011.

Ford sales are up 24%, Chrysler sales are up 17%, and GM's are up  11%. It's been a good news week for the "Big Three" (can we still call them that?). Chrysler and GM also announced they plan to hire more workers in Michigan, and the Brookings Institution says Metro Detroit is recovering.

Here are some figures from a number-laden Detroit News article on auto sales:

• Sales for Chrysler's Jeep brand were up 58 % for November compared to a year ago
• Ford's year-to-date sales total 1.74 million vehicles - growing at a pace double the industry average
• Ford's F-Series trucks were up 26 %
• GM's big brand Chevrolet was up 18 % for the month compared to a year ago, its sales strengthened by the new compact Cruze and popular Equinox and Silverado
  

A contract dispute between Flint's mayor and the city's public safety unions escalated Tuesday.



Tuesday, the city of Flint sent layoff notices to 20 police officers. The city and the police unions have not been able to agree on major contract concessions to help reduce a projected budget deficit.

Nurses at Lansing's Sparrow Hospital overwhelmingly approved a new contract with the hospital.

The contract approved Tuesday came after a sometimes contentious negotiations between the two sides.

"There was a very diverse opinion about the details of the contract about what was good and what was bad," says Robert Kolt, a spokesman for the nurses union, "They had to agree...that patient safety was a top priority."

The contract contains a modest wage increase for the nurses and other support staff.

Today executives at General Motors announced they plan to add 1,000 jobs in Michigan.

Now, Chrysler executives have announced they also plan to add 1,000 jobs.

The Wall Street Journal reports: