Utahns' economic optimism drops to lowest in a year

A dramatic drop in April in the way Utah consumers are feeling about their economic situation more than gobbled up all the gains that the Zions Bank Utah Consumer Attitude Index (CAI) has made in the past year. The index decreased 10.2 points to 112.3 in April, the lowest level since June 2018. The drop left the year-over-year CAI down 1.8 points. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}

By comparison, the national Consumer Confidence Index increased 5 points to 129.2 in April.

The Utah Present Situation Index, a sub-index of the CAI, dropped 8.5 points to 125.9 in April, with more Utahns feeling that business conditions are “normal” instead of “good.”  Generally, Utahns see the current economic situation as more tempered compared to perceptions in March.

Another sub-index, the Expectations Index, sank 11.3 points to 103.3 in April, with more Utahns feeling that the economy will hold steady in the next six months, rather than improve or get worse. The percentage of Utahns who expect business conditions to be the same in six months increased 5 percentage points to 68 percent.

Even as sentiment has tempered, Utahns remain more optimistic than pessimistic about the future. The vast majority — 93 percent of Utahns — feel that business conditions will either improve or remain the same over the next six months, while only 7 percent feel they will get worse and 95 percent feel that job availability will either remain the same or improve over today’s historically low levels of unemployment.

“Utahns are still very confident in the economy,” said Scott Anderson, Zions Bank president and CEO. “Even with a slight decline in people who feel positively about business conditions, it’s clear that Utah’s economy is still one of the best in the country.”

Utahns are also more likely to purchase a major household item in the near future, according to the survey. One-third (34 percent) of Utahns feel it is likely they will purchase items like furniture, appliances or a television, the highest percentage recorded since Zions Bank and Cicero Group began tracking consumer attitudes in Utah in November 2011. Similarly, 67 percent of homeowners in Utah feel it is likely they will make some form of home improvements in 2019.

“Many Utahns are planning to invest in their homes because they are confident in their economic position,” said Randy Shumway, chairman and partner of Cicero Group, a Salt Lake City research firm that does the data collection and analysis for the CAI. “Although Utah has some of the highest home values in the U.S., Utah also has the eighth-highest proportion of homeowners in the country at 70 percent. This puts Utah in a unique place where a large proportion of residents feel that the environment is worth long-term investment.”{/mprestriction}