Utah consumer sentiment up slightly again in July

Although within the margin of error, Utah’s consumer sentiment was up again in July for the second straight month.

The 1.8 percent increase of the Zions Bank Consumer Sentiment Survey in July followed a 1.6 percent hike in June, after down months in April and May. The July index came in at 72.7.

Despite recent gains in overall consumer sentiment, Utah sentiment remains 7.2 percent below the level from one year ago. However, the future one-year financial outlook index increased from 102 in June to 111 in July, reflecting increased optimism among Utahns about their future personal financial position. The other four Utah index components moved little in July.

“It’s encouraging to see data that indicate a near-return to past confidence levels,” said Zions Bank senior economist Robert Spendlove. “People have more optimism about the future as they adjust to the current economic situation and as the negative impacts of economic shocks start to wane. The consumer and the economy remain resilient.”

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.

The full results of the monthly Zions Bank Consumer Sentiment Survey can be accessed at https://gardner.utah.edu/zions-bank-consumer-sentiment-survey/.