LANSING ? Michigan had two more signs Thursday the economy is improving with the release of Comerica Bank’s Michigan Economic Activity Index and the Michigan Housing Index. Both indexes saw improvement in the state’s economy, with the housing index, by the Michigan Association of Home Builders, showing builders saw improvements in the first quarter and the Comerica index reaching a recent high in February.

The Economic Activity Index was 102 in February, up four points from January and at its highest point since April 2005. The average for January and February is 100, nine points higher than the average for 2011, the report said.

The index hit a low of 60 during the recent recession.

“Our Michigan Economic Activity Index has broken sharply higher, showing rapid gains in the Michigan economy in early 2012. We are seeing broad-based gains in economic activity, showing that the revitalization of the auto industry is having a fundamental positive impact on the state economy,” Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica Bank, said in a statement releasing the report. “Threats to the Michigan economy are still visible in the form of challenging global macroeconomic conditions and expected cuts in federal defense spending. Recently softer U.S. economic data is not expected to significantly impair domestic auto sales.”

Builders and remodelers are still hesitant about the economy, the Home Builders’ index showed. The builders index was 44 and remodelers was 45, both in a “cautious optimism” range, the group said.

For builders, that was up from 36 for the first quarter of 2011, a pessimistic outlook; for remodelers, that was down from 52, still cautiously optimistic.

“What had been a few pockets of strength in the housing market is starting to be felt throughout much of Michigan as homebuilding continues to slowly but surely pick up steam,” said Robert Filka, CEO of the Michigan Association of Home Builders. “The builders that have survived and emerged from the down years are seeing more confident consumers coming back into the marketplace.”

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