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SALT LAKE CITY -- Lower prices for gasoline and housing have Utahns pretty optimistic about how they will spend in 2012, but can your attitude help boost the economy?
A new Zions Bank survey sampled 500 Utah households and found consumer confidence in Utah jumped 14 points from November, which means more Utahns are feeling good about their money and how they will spend it in 2012.
"For the first time this quarter, my husband actually got a commission bonus," said Coralee Carroll, "So yeah, it's a better quarter, and yes, we will go spend."
It is that kind of attitude financial experts want to hear.
As 2011 draws to a close with all of its debt, unemployment, and housing crises, 72 percent of Utahns felt they would be able to keep their job next year and 19 percent felt they'd be able to add more money to their household income.
Still, some Utahns are being cautiously optimistic.
"Optimism has a lot to do with it, but I do think we need to be careful about our debt," Carroll said.
Others are more concerned.
"It's irresponsible for me to be planning very much toward retirement without knowing where the economy is going," said shopper Val Hanney.
So economic growth is buoyed by optimism. If people are confident about their economic future, they open up their wallets.
–Randy Shumway
Cicero Group CEO Randy Shumway said despite what is happening in the rest of the country, the numbers look good in Utah.
"It's the second-fastest-growing economy in the country, with the third lowest gasoline prices," he said. "We've got an entrepreneurial spirit."
That spirit drives entrepreneurs like Phil Blomquist, owner of The Bicycle Center.
He said despite tough economic times, business has been good, mainly because he has been able to stave off competition from big box and Internet sales.
"It started slow," he said. "The first ten days, two weeks of the holiday was a little bit iffy. We were a little bit cautious as to where we might end up, but then the last week before Christmas it just went out of sight for us."
Shumway said Utah's unemployment is at 6.4%, compared to 8.6% nationally, and that Utah is the only state in the union that has doubled exports in the last 5 years.
"So economic growth is buoyed by optimism," he said. "If people are confident about their economic future, they open up their wallets."
