Utah’s consumer sentiment increased from 64.1 in November to 68.7 in December, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s Survey of Utah Consumers. The Gardner Institute has now measured Utah consumer sentiment for 27 consecutive months. The December 2022 Index for both Utah and the U.S. increased over the prior month, suggesting a slightly better outlook.
“Current economic challenges from an overheated economy include high inflation, rising interest rates and slowdowns in construction and real estate. Consumer sentiment has reflected these challenges,” said Phil Dean, chief economist at the Gardner Institute. “Yet, there are many often under-appreciated economic buffers. Extremely low employment coupled with improving supply chains and strong overall household, business and state and local government financial reserves provide a hedge against these challenges in the new year.”
A similar survey, the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers, also found sentiment increased from November (56.8) to December (59.5) among Americans nationwide.
The Utah Consumer Sentiment Survey uses comparable questions to the Michigan, which polls the nation as a whole to arrive at its index number. Both surveys include a random sample of consumers, including demographic questions to assess the representativeness of the sample.
Utah’s survey of includes five questions concerning current and expected future economic conditions. These questions are identical to those included in the University of Michigan’s survey. Two of these questions refer to business or economic conditions in the country as a whole (rather than in one’s home state, for example). The Gardner survey supplements these two questions with alternative versions that refer to the state of Utah rather than the whole United States.
The full results of the survey are available online at the Gardner Institute website, https://gardner.utah.edu.