Even global economic experts have to stand in line on Black Friday.

University of Michigan economist George Fulton

I caught University of Michigan economist George Fulton stuck in a Black Friday line this morning at Kohl's on Lohr Road in Pittsfield Township. He looked to be buying a few items, including a plush blanket. Supporting the economy, I asked?

"My wife's supporting the economy. I'm supporting my wife by standing in line for her," Fulton joked.

With a little time on his hands I asked him for his holiday spending predictions, fresh off his well-publicized forecast that Michigan's unemployment rate would top 15 percent through 2011.

"I think it’s going to be down a little," Fulton said. "People are just a little more cautious right now because of the way things are. I hope I'm wrong."

That fits with a projection by the National Retail Federation, which expects holiday shopping this year to decline by 1 percent.

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter.