Utah’s consumer sentiment showed a small rise in May — small enough to fall within the survey’s margin of error, according to a release from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.
The index rose 1.4 percent last month, up to 81.1 from 80.0 in April. The minor hike followed three consecutive down months.
Meanwhile, a similar survey conducted by the University of Michigan found no change in sentiment during May among Americans as a whole, after four months of decline.
“The May increase ends three consecutive months of decline for the Utah Consumer Sentiment Index,” said Phil Dean, chief economist at the Gardner Institute. “U.S. consumer sentiment remained unchanged, as previously mentioned, ending four consecutive months of decline at the national level. This news highlights the sensitivity of consumers to U.S. trade policy, which experienced a temporary pause on tariffs of certain goods imported from China on May 12.”
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.