After several months of relatively insignificant ups and downs, Utah’s consumer sentiment took a hit in October — down by 8.4 percent.
The Zions Bank Consumer Sentiment Survey showed a drop from 80.1 in September to 73.4 in October, according to the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, which conducts the poll for the bank.
Meanwhile, a similar survey conducted by the University of Michigan reported that sentiment fell 2.7 percent among Americans as a whole during October.
“Utah’s consumer sentiment dropped more than the national average in October,” said Robert Spendlove, senior economist at Zions Bank. “However, over the past year, Utah’s decline has been far less severe — 9 percent compared to a 24 percent drop nationally. Utahns continue to show stronger optimism about the economy than consumers across the country.”
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 Zions Bank Consumer Sentiment Survey can be accessed at https://gardner.utah.edu/zions-bank-consumer-sentiment-survey/.