OK - that's not exactly what they said. It's more subtle but basically they let through a quote that said as much. The article is titled: State's economic recovery expected to start next year.

Comerica Bank's chief economist predicted Friday that Michigan's battered economy will finally start to recover next year, aided by a rebound in the national economy.

"This long nightmare now in its sixth year ... the end is going to be in 2010," Dana Johnson told a large crowd of the bank's business clients gathered at the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills.

Johnson's forecast came despite a grim prognosis for the ailing state. He expects Michigan's real gross domestic product -- the inflation-adjusted value of all goods and services produced in the state -- to drop by 4% to 5% this year, compared with a 1.5% decline in 2008.

And Michigan could shed 50,000 to 60,000 more auto and auto parts manufacturing jobs, up from the 33,000 that were lost last year.

So many factories have closed that auto manufacturing jobs now only account for 2.9% of the state's total nonfarm jobs, compared with 6.9% at the start of the decade.

Johnson said it's important that the state create a business environment that nurtures growth, reminding the audience that innovative, job-creating companies like Google Inc. can spring up unexpectedly.