Utah’s consumer sentiment rose 6.2 points (8.4 percent) in December, another significant rise following a similar jump in November. The index rose from 73.6 in November to 79.8 in December, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s Survey of Utah Consumer Sentiment.
Americans as a whole did even better. A similar survey by the University of Michigan found that sentiment rose 13.7 percent across American — from 61.3 to 69.7.
“Utah consumer sentiment ended 2023 with its highest rating in over two years, signaling growing economic optimism,” said Phil Dean, chief economist at the Gardner Institute. “This year-end consumer sentiment increase coincides with the remarkable resiliency seen in the Utah and U.S. economies in 2023. Despite higher interest rates, banking turmoil and elevated inflation during the year, the economy appears to have expanded in all four quarters of 2023, buoyed by strong labor markets, continued robust consumer spending, and elevated-but-moderating inflation.”
The Utah consumer confidence survey uses key questions from the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers. These questions measure residents’ views of the present economic situation and their expectations for the economy in the future. Data gathered from the key questions are used to create the consumer confidence index for Utah. Demographic questions are included in the questionnaire to allow for additional analysis of the data and to assess the representativeness of the sample.
The full results of the survey are available online at the Gardner Institute website, https://gardner.utah.edu.