Much like many Americans, Utah’s consumers are worried about the economic backlash that dramatic changes implemented by the Trump administration may have on their economic well-being. As a result, Utah’s consumer sentiment index fell 8 percent in March, from 88.1 in February to the current 81.1, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s Survey of Utah Consumer Sentiment.
The drop marks the second consecutive month with a significant negative report.
A similar survey conducted by the University of Michigan measured an even more significant decline (11.9 percent) in sentiment among Americans as a whole.
“The Utah Consumer Sentiment Index declined this month for a second consecutive month, led by declines in expectations for the economic outlook over the next five years and expectations for business conditions in the near future,” said Phil Dean, chief economist at the Gardner Institute. “U.S. consumer sentiment, as measured by the University of Michigan, has declined three consecutive months (a 23 percent decline since December), while Utah’s consumer sentiment has declined 11.2 percent since December.”
Consumer investing website Investopedia.com defines consumer sentiment as a statistical measurement of the overall health of the economy as determined by consumer opinion. It takes into account how people feel about their current financial health, the health of the economy in the short term, and the prospects for longer-term economic growth. It is widely considered to be a useful economic indicator.
When asked about the significance of the 8 percent drop, Dean told KSL’s Jeff Caplan, “It definitely is a significant drop. I will say it’s not as dramatic as the national drop was, but it’s a decline from some of the levels, the highest since we’ve been doing the survey. We started this in 2020, early in the pandemic, and at the end of the year, it was at some of the peaks that we’ve seen, and over the last several months, some pretty significant declines.”
The Utah Consumer Confidence Survey uses key questions from the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers. The 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.