The local economy is on the mend, according to PNC Financial Services economist Robert Dye and Cleveland State economic development expert Ned Hill. Of the two, Dye was much more optimistic. He pointed to a slow but steady growth in Northeast Ohio manufacturing over the past year. And he said that the consumer sector is coming back.
ROBERT DYE: Holiday sales --- the first year in the last three that we beat expectations. Consumer confidence starting to come back. So, we start to see the consumer re-engage --- we start to see auto sales come back --- that is going to mean growing jobs throughout the broader service sector.
At the same time, he added that those consumers have become more cautious, and less likely to rack-up the levels of credit card debt that were common five years ago. Cleveland State's Ned Hill agreed that that there were signs of improvement, but he tempered Dye's optimistic outlook with some sobering Ohio statistics.
NED HILL: The amount of time it takes to bounce back from a recession has gotten longer and longer. The 2001 recession took longer that the 1990 recession, and this recession's taking much longer.
Hill also noted that people have been unemployed longer during this recession than any other time since the 1960s. Pittsburgh-based Robert Dye's appearance at a Cleveland Forum underlined a point that both economists emphasized --- that both cities need to look beyond old rivalries and see themselves as regional partners.
