Survey shows improving economic optimism in Mich.

By Tim Martin Associated Press EAST LANSING (AP) -- Michigan residents are feeling a bit more optimistic about their short-term economic future, according to a university survey released last Friday. About 60 percent of residents said they think they will be better off a year from now, according to Michigan State University's latest State of the State survey. That's the highest level of optimism recorded in the survey since 2004. About 23 percent of respondents expect to be worse off a year from now and about 17 percent expect to be about the same. The telephone survey from the university's Institute for Public Policy and Social Research was conducted from Feb. 12 to March 29. The survey included 979 interviews with residents 18 and older and has a sampling margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The trend toward optimism is not too surprising, given that other indicators suggest the Michigan economy is improving after a lengthy recession. The state's unemployment rate edged downward to 10.3 percent in March, compared to 13.3 percent a year ago. "There continues to be a wellspring of optimism and hope for the future," said Charles Ballard, a Michigan State University economist and director of the quarterly survey. About 49 percent of those surveyed rated their current financial situation as "good" or "excellent" -- the highest marks since 2007. Roughly 35 percent rated their current situation as "fair" with nearly 16 percent saying it's "not so good" or "poor." Issues related to the economy remain the most pressing problem for Michigan's government leaders, according to the survey. The survey rated new Gov. Rick Snyder for the first time. The survey reports 44.5 percent of respondents who had an opinion gave the Republican a "good" or "excellent" performance rating. Another 36.7 percent gave Snyder a "fair" rating while 18.8 percent gave him a "poor" rating. Those results don't include about 22 percent of survey participants who said they didn't know enough to give Snyder a rating. Snyder's approval rating was higher before he released his first state budget proposal on Feb. 17. The budget plan features unpopular cuts to education spending and also upset many seniors, who would have lost their tax exemptions on many types of retiree income under Snyder's original proposal. Snyder has since dramatically scaled back his pension tax plan so it would not apply to anyone who will be at least 67 years old as of Jan. 1, 2012. The Michigan State University survey ended well before that change was announced. Published: Tue, Apr 19, 2011