News Release

May 3, 2023 (Salt Lake City) – Utah’s consumer sentiment held steady in April, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s Survey of Utah Consumer Sentiment. A similar survey by The University of Michigan found sentiment rose slightly from March (62.0) to April (63.5) among Americans as a whole.

“The index was relatively unchanged for the second straight month, reflecting continued uncertainty among Utahns about the economy as they face mixed economic signals,” said Gardner Institute chief economist Phil Dean. “Negative economic signals include moderating economic growth in the U.S., higher interest rates, and the ongoing banking crisis that began with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March. Positive economic signals Utahns may notice include a strong local labor market and improvements to inflation.”

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.