Utah’s consumer sentiment rose by 1.5 points from December to January, increasing to 76.9, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s Utah Consumer Sentiment Survey. Study authors said the slight increase is coming from Utahns’ responses in January of feeling better off financially compared to a year ago and improvements on long-term outlooks. Even with the improvement, overall sentiment is the second- lowest on record and is not as optimistic as it was a year ago.
“Utahns continue to express concern about inflation and the economic impacts of COVID-19,” said Joshua Spolsdoff, Gardner Institute senior research economist. “Despite these lingering concerns, our state economy continues to perform well, with the second-lowest unemployment rate and fastest job growth rate in the nation.”
The University of Michigan’s index sentiment among all Americans fell over the past month, marking a 10-year low in national sentiment. Inflation, COVID-19 and confidence in government economic policies were all major factors in the 3.4 percentage point fall.
The Utah Consumer Sentiment Survey uses comparable questions to the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers. These questions measure residents’ views of present and future economic conditions. Both surveys include a random sample of consumers, including demographic questions to assess the representativeness of the sample.