Consumer sentiment falls back in February after several months of gains

Following several months of marginal increases, the measure of Utah’s consumer sentiment fell 3.5 percent in February, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. The institute’s Survey of Utah Consumer Sentiment dropped to 88.1 in February from 91.3 in January.

A similar survey conducted by the University of Michigan measured a more significant decline in sentiment among Americans as a whole during the same time — from 71.7 to 64.7 or a 9.8 percent decline.

“After reaching higher sentiment levels in recent months, expectations and uncertainty about family finances and business conditions drove Utah consumers to adjust their sentiment this month, making them less optimistic and aligning directionally with the nation index decline,” said Phil Dean, chief economist at the Gardner Institute.

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 monthly Utah Consumer Sentiment survey can be accessed through the Gardner Institute website at gardner.utah.edu.