Driven by continued soaring inflation, Utah’s consumer sentiment fell in June to its lowest point since the survey’s inception, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s Survey of Utah Consumers. The Utah index fell to 64.4 in June, compared to 69.0 in May.
For the version of the Gardner index referring to nationwide feelings, the sentiment index fell to 54.1 in June, compared to 57.9 in May.
The June national consumer sentiment index, conducted by the University of Michigan, dropped to 50.0, the lowest reading in the survey’s 70-year history.
“Not surprisingly, consumers of all backgrounds remain very frustrated about high inflation. Indeed, anyone younger than 40 has not seen rates this high in their lifetime,” said Gardner Institute senior economist Phil Dean. “This high inflation includes many everyday items, including $5-per-gallon gasoline and elevated food prices. Persistent high prices force consumers to reorient their short-term thinking about today’s purchases and wages and sow seeds of uncertainty about the long-term future.”
Questions comprising the Utah survey of consumer sentiment include five questions concerning current and expected future economic conditions. These questions are identical to those included in the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumer Sentiment. 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). Alternative questions that refer to the state of Utah rather than the country as a whole are included in the local survey. Both surveys include a random sample of consumers, including demographic questions to assess the representativeness of the sample.
