Utah’s consumer sentiment increased nearly 5 percent in July — from 77.3 in June to 81.1 — according to the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s Survey of Utah Consumer Sentiment.
That’s better than the U.S. did as a whole for the same month. A similar survey by the University of Michigan found that sentiment fell 2.6 percent among Americans, from 68.2 to 66.4.
“After a lull earlier in 2024, Utah consumer sentiment in recent months returned to its normal position of exceeding U.S. sentiment,” said Phil Dean, chief economist at the Gardner Institute. “This suggests Utahns are more optimistic about the local economy. However, Utah remains closely tied to the U.S. economy, so national trends heavily impact Utah’s economic performance. As the nation continues to face uncertainty around inflation, job growth, interest rates, international events and stock market fluctuations, consumer sentiment may continue to fluctuate.”
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.