Sentiment index still signaling consumer uncertainty in Utah

The way Utah’s consumers feel about their current and future economic situation stayed essentially the same from April to May, according to the University of Utah Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s Survey of Utah Consumer Sentiment. The monthly index fell only slightly — 70.5 to 70.1 — for the month, continuing to signal a little uncertainty about the future.

“Utah sentiment remained relatively unchanged for the third straight month, reflecting continued economic uncertainty among Utahns facing mixed economic signals,” said Phil Dean, Gardner Institute chief economist. “Federal debt ceiling discussions occurring in D.C. during the survey period could have added to uncertainty. Negative economic signals include higher interest rates, moderating economic growth in the U.S. overall in recent quarters, and the ongoing banking turmoil that began with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March. Positive economic signals Utahns may notice include a strong local labor market and improvements in inflation. Utah consumer sentiment remains higher than U.S. sentiment, which declined in May.”

A similar poll, the University of Michigan’s Monthly Survey of Consumers, found sentiment among Americans as a whole took a more significant drop from April (63.5) to May (59.2).

The Gardner poll uses key questions from the University of Michigan’s survey. Those 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.