After several months of marginal decline and an 11-month low in July, Utah’s consumer sentiment rose a bit in August, according to index numbers released by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.
The institute’s Survey of Utah Consumer Sentiment rose 1.9 percent in August.
Although the rise is within the survey’s margin of error, Gardner economists see a lessening of recent declines. The index rose in August to 79.9, compared to July’s 78.4.
A similar survey conducted by the University of Michigan reports sentiment fell 5.7 percent during August among Americans as a whole.
“Compared to July 2025, a larger share of Utahns in August expect business conditions in Utah to improve and to be better off financially as an individual or family a year from now,” said Phil Dean, chief economist at the Gardner Institute. “Interestingly, a larger share of Utah households in August relative to July expects business conditions in the U.S. to worsen over the next 12 months.”
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.