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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah economy is clicking on virtually all cylinders, a new report indicates.
The Zions Bank Utah Consumer Attitude Index rose 0.4 points to 109.7 from September to October, nearly attaining the level that analysts describe as a fully functioning economy.
The index has improved 31.6 points over the past 12 months. By comparison, this month’s national Consumer Confidence Index increased 5.5 points to 94.5.
The Zions Bank Present Situation Index — a measure of how consumers feel about current economic conditions — declined 0.5 points to 112.4 compared with the national Present Situation Index, which climbed 0.7 points to 93.7.
Meanwhile, the Zions Bank Expectations Index, a reflection of how consumers feel about economic conditions six months from now, increased 0.9 points to 107.9, while the national Expectations Index increased 8.6 points to 95.0.
The Zions Bank Consumer Attitude Index is based on a representative sample of 500 Utah households. The monthly survey is conducted by The Cicero Group, with a confidence interval of plus or minus 4.38 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.
Randy Shumway, chief economic adviser for Zions Bank, attributed much of the ongoing optimism to falling gasoline prices.
"You will see our (fuel) prices hit the trough in late December," Shumway said. "It would be possibly early January before they creep up."
He said pump prices could eventually fall below the $3 mark at their lowest point.
That good news did little to help the Zions Bank Wasatch Front Consumer Price Index last month. The index fell 0.6 percent from August to September. The index currently sits at 109.3 and has increased 0.6 percent since this same time last year.
Nationally, the index increased 0.1 percent from August to September and has risen 1.7 percent over the past year. The report showed transportation costs decreasing 3.4 percent from August to September, the only category to change more than 1 percentage point.
Over the past several months, transportation costs — including vehicle prices, rentals, gas and airfare — have been volatile, Shumway said.
Gasoline prices in Utah averaged $3.55 per gallon in September compared with $3.66 per gallon in August. Gas prices across the country are hovering just above $3 and are on track to reach the lowest levels observed in four years, the report stated.
The U.S. current average gasoline price is $3.09, down from $3.34 at this same time last month.
Brent crude oil, the major benchmark for oil prices worldwide, was priced near $95 a barrel at the end of September and briefly fell below $85 in mid-October. The drop in oil prices stems in part from a weaker global economy and a stronger U.S. dollar, the report stated.
