Job prediction brightens mostly dreary outlook for Monroe, Greene and Owen counties

By Nicole Brooks, Herald-Times

nbrooks@heraldt.com

Local economists looking ahead to the new year predict mostly dark days with a few bright spots here and there, with statewide employment shrinkage occurring before bouncing back in late 2009.

On the dark side, the Bloomington area's per-capita personal income continues to decline, with factory wages alone slipping $27 per week in 2007, said Jerry Conover, director of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business' Indiana Business Research Center.

The research center's economic outlook for the coming year is published in the latest edition of the Indiana Business Review and is compiled in part by Kelley faculty. The report categorizes projections by area, focusing on 13 metropolitan areas of Indiana, including Bloomington, and by industry, including automotive and life sciences.