The Rust Belt reflects much of what's good and bad with the current economy — the industrial market is in the dumps; residential construction is hanging tough; and office construction is spotty and dependent on the local employment picture. With so much of the region's industrial might tied to the auto market, when Motor City sneezes, the rest of the region catches a cold.
Skeptics wonder how long Detroit's automakers can rely on the fumes of zero-percent financing to continue to drive new car sales. Office vacancy rates are ugly in many metropolitan areas; Chicago and Detroit have downtown vacancy rates of over 20 percent, according to Grubb-Ellis.
Still, some new construction projects are pumping some life into the region's economy. Ford Motor Co.'s supplier campus being built near its South Side Chicago assembly plant will have 800 employees by 2003.
ELECTRICAL WHOLESALERS' SALES
(in millions of dollars) EW Estimates | | Final 1998 | Final 1999 | Final 2000 | Final 2001 | Forecast 2002 | Forecast 2003 |
|---|
| East North Central | 11,891.6 | 12,613.3 | 12,720.1 | 12,080.6 | 11,944.9 | 12,485.3 |
| Illinois | 4,507.1 | 4,899.1 | 4,940.6 | 4,692.2 | 4,639.5 | 4,849.4 |
| Indiana | 1,026.1 | 1,049.1 | 1,058.0 | 1,004.8 | 9,935.5 | 1,038.5 |
| Michigan | 2,325.4 | 2,365.3 | 2,385.3 | 2,265.4 | 2,239.9 | 2,341.3 |
| Ohio | 2,590.4 | 2,743.3 | 2,766.5 | 2,627.5 | 2,597.9 | 2,715.5 |
| Wisconsin | 1,442.5 | 1,556.4 | 1,569.6 | 1,490.7 | 1,474.0 | 1,540.7 |
EMPLOYMENT STATISTICSActual EC | in thousands | | | M | F/S/RT | G |
|---|
| East North Central | 132,047 | 4,012.4 | 11,547.0 | 3,127.1 |
| Illinois | 38,055 | 888.6 | 3,277.0 | 840.6 |
| Bloomington-Normal MSA | 373 | 7.2 | 60.8 | 13.0 |
| Champaign-Urbana MSA | 340 | 12.0 | 45.5 | 33.8 |
| Chicago PMSA | 29,244 | 594.2 | 2,381.5 | 503.8 |
| Davenport-Moline-Rock Island MSA | 1,266 | 29.9 | 98.2 | 27.2 |
| Decatur MSA | 320 | 11.8 | 28.0 | 6.6 |
| Kankakee PMSA | 183 | 6.4 | 24.0 | 7.4 |
| Peoria-Pekin MSA | 712 | 33.0 | 93.5 | 20.3 |
| Rockford MSA | 727 | 45.3 | 89.4 | 19.9 |
| Springfield MSA | 1,028 | 4.2 | 64.0 | 32.9 |
| Indiana | 16,465 | 624.1 | 1,446.7 | 393.5 |
| Bloomington MSA | 229 | 5.9 | 30.6 | 18.8 |
| Elkhart-Goshen MSA | 422 | 58.7 | 39.1 | 8.5 |
| Evansville-Henderson MSA | 832 | 30.9 | 82.7 | 15.9 |
| Fort Wayne MSA | 1,153 | 64.8 | 130.7 | 26.8 |
| Gary PMSA | 2,056 | 38.7 | 136.9 | 36.4 |
| Indianapolis MSA | 6,598 | 120.7 | 489.4 | 109.2 |
| Kokomo MSA | 524 | 17.6 | 20.1 | 7.1 |
| Lafayette MSA | 398 | 22.2 | 39.0 | 23.4 |
| Muncie MSA | 322 | 8.8 | 30.1 | 10.0 |
| South Bend MSA | 1,168 | 20.7 | 76.9 | 14.0 |
| Terre Haute MSA | 333 | 11.3 | 37.2 | 9.9 |
| Michigan | 31,706 | 919.9 | 2,372.5 | 682.0 |
| Ann Arbor PMSA | 1,595 | 51.0 | 133.5 | 75.8 |
| Benton Harbor MSA | 290 | 18.8 | 36.1 | 9.1 |
| Detroit PMSA | 14,230 | 428.8 | 1,171.6 | 242.9 |
| Flint PMSA | 890 | 28.3 | 88.3 | 25.0 |
| Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland MSA | 4,529 | 153.2 | 284.5 | 57.5 |
| Jackson MSA | 870 | 11.2 | 33.8 | 10.4 |
| Kalamazoo-Battle Creek MSA | 1,424 | 47.9 | 111.1 | 33.1 |
| Lansing-East Lansing MSA | 1,450 | 25.1 | 119.4 | 63.0 |
| Saginaw-Bay City-Midland MSA | 816 | 34.1 | 95.8 | 22.4 |
| Ohio | 29,779 | 1,006.2 | 2,978.7 | 794.4 |
| Akron PMSA | 1,560 | 59.6 | 171.7 | 45.3 |
| Canton-Massillion MSA | 983 | 43.6 | 100.5 | 20.8 |
| Cincinnati PMSA | 4,723 | 131.4 | 503.1 | 104.2 |
| Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria PMSA | 7,259 | 201.8 | 643.1 | 149.1 |
| Columbus MSA | 5,787 | 88.7 | 523.5 | 147.9 |
| Dayton-Springfield MSA | 2,149 | 85.9 | 256.7 | 74.3 |
| Hamilton-Middletown PMSA | 825 | 20.9 | 65.2 | 20.4 |
| Lima MSA | 346 | 17.8 | 39.4 | 10.9 |
| Mansfield MSA | 286 | 22.0 | 38.0 | 11.8 |
| Steubenville-Weirton MSA | 154 | 12.1 | 25.8 | 6.8 |
| Toledo MSA | 1,745 | 57.7 | 169.5 | 44.6 |
| Youngstown-Warren MSA | 1,009 | 45.0 | 129.1 | 31.5 |
| Wisconsin | 16,422 | 573.6 | 1,472.1 | 416.6 |
| Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah MSA | 1,206 | 56.3 | 94.5 | 23.6 |
| Eau Claire MSA | 347 | 11.4 | 43.5 | 11.3 |
| Green Bay MSA | 1,300 | 28.4 | 73.6 | 18.0 |
| Janesville-Beliot MSA | 594 | 17.4 | 33.4 | 9.0 |
| Kenosha PMSA | 320 | 11.5 | 26.6 | 8.8 |
| La Crosse MSA | 320 | 9.9 | NA | 10.6 |
| Madison MSA | 1,369 | 30.2 | 157.3 | 72.0 |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha PMSA | 5,037 | 159.3 | 488.7 | 96.0 |
| Racine PMSA | 361 | 21.2 | 40.6 | 10.8 |
| Sheboygan MSA | 999 | 25.1 | 24.8 | 6.9 |
| Wausau MSA | 401 | 18.3 | 32.7 | 7.7 |
