Utah consumer sentiment ticks up a bit in July

Utah’s consumer sentiment seems to be pulling out of the temporary slump it has endured over the past year. The Kem C. Gardner Institute’s Survey of Utah Consumer Sentiment edged up slightly again in July to its highest point since February 2022. The index climbed from 76.3 in June to 77.3 in July.

A similar survey, the Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers, recorded a larger increase among Americans as a whole, up from 64.4 in June to 71.6 in July.

“The Utah economy continues to demonstrate{mprestriction ids="1,3"} resiliency with low unemployment and strong job growth,” said Phil Dean, Gardner Institute chief economist. “This economic performance, coupled with slowing inflation, contribute to the highest level of Utah consumer sentiment in nearly a year and a half.”

The Utah consumer confidence survey uses key questions from the University of Michigan’s Surveys 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 survey are available online at the Gardner Institute website, https://gardner.utah.edu.{/mprestriction}