LANSING – Michigan’s economy is continuing to grow and rebound from the Great Recession, George Fulton, director of the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics at the University of Michigan said Friday, noting that by 2017 the state should gain 531,200 jobs from the 858,400 lost during the previous decade.

That constitutes 62 percent of the jobs lost between 2000 and 2009, Fulton said at the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference held Friday. He also said unemployment should continue to decline.

Fulton estimated an average of 68,000 jobs to be gained each year through 2017. He said the top three job producers during the period are the professional and business services sector, the trade, transportation and utilities sector, and construction.

Fulton said unemployment should continue to decrease for the next three years to 6.7 percent in 2015, 6.3 percent in 2016 and 6 percent in 2017.

Daniil Manaenkov, also with RSQE, said the decrease in oil prices is a net benefit to the economy, saying consumers are going out and spending the money they are saving.

He also said he does not expect crude oil prices to go back up to $100 per barrel, where they were during the summer of 2014. However, he said they won’t remain below $50 a barrel, either.

Manaenkov also said light vehicle sales will continue to increase, though the rate will slow down. In 2014 units sold increased to 16.4 million from 15.5 million in 2013. In 2015 it is projected that 16.8 million units will sell, 17.1 million in 2016 and 17.4 million in 2017, he said.

Fulton also projected a slight increase in personal income, with a 4.2 percent increase in 2014, a 4.5 percent increase in 2015 and 4.6 percent in both 2016 and 2017.

“Thus, we have a ways yet to go, but we are expecting continued forward progress,” he said. “Moving from improved to better.”

Manaenkov said the housing market continues to recover slowly. He said home sales are increasing gradually.

In 2014, there were 4.34 million sales, down from 4.48 in 2013. He projects 4.64 million in 2015, 4.8 million in 2016 and 4.95 million in 2017.

He also said he expects solid growth in real GDP during the next two years, increasing from 2.4 percent in 2014 to 3.3 percent in 2016 and decreasing slightly to 3.1 percent in 2016.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com