Michigan Enjoys Today's Good Times
By: Nicole Volta Averty (Detroit News Style Editor) - The Detroit News

Nadwa Yono can easily find evidence of the nation's longest economic expansion by looking at her clients' hair.

"Before people would go six to eight weeks before coming in for color or a haircut," explains the owner of Salone Nadwa in Novi. "Nowadays, women are coming back within three or four weeks. They don't want their roots to show. They want to look excellent at all times."

Many can afford those and other luxuries thanks to the nearly 9-year-long record U.S. economic expansion that began in March 1991.

While the good times have hardly affected everyone equally, they have provided many with jobs and increased pay, allowing them to splurge a bit. Consumers have bought larger homes, souped-up sport utility vehicles, snazzy cell phones, boats, expensive clothing, jewelry and other amenities.

In metro Detroit, $1,775 to $8,000 automotive profit-sharing checks, competitive pay in a tight labor market, healthy returns on stock investments and accessibility to credit at low interest rates have put lots of money in people's pockets, fueling growth in the economy.