- Utah's consumer sentiment rose 0.9% in January to 80.6, per Zions Bank.
- Despite the modest uptick, Utah's sentiment is 11.8% lower than it was a year ago.
- U.S. consumer sentiment is 21.3% lower than last year amid economic constraints.
SALT LAKE CITY — For the third consecutive month, Utah's consumer sentiment ticked upwards with a modest 0.9% increase in January.
From December to January, Utah's sentiment increased from 79.9 to 80.6, according to the Zions Bank Consumer Sentiment Survey. The increase, as noted in a Zions Bank release, is within the survey's margin of error.
January's data also show that Utahns generally feel much better about the economy than their counterparts in other states.
While a similar survey conducted by the University of Michigan reported that consumer sentiment increased by 6.6% among Americans as a whole in January, U.S. consumer sentiment remains at 56.4, well below Utah's.
Notably, Utah consumer sentiment improved or held steady across all categories except durable goods, which include household appliances and electronics. This category saw a drop in sentiment from 94.8 in December to 89.6 in January.
And even as Utah's sentiment has crept up over the last few months, albeit gradually, the state's consumer sentiment remains 11.8% lower than it was a year ago.
That number is worse for the nation as a whole, with the U.S. consumer sentiment 21.3% lower than it was at this time last year, signaling Americans in Utah and elsewhere are feeling the impacts of a constricting economy.
"While Utah confidence levels are lower than a year ago. It's good to see them improving over the past few months," Zions Bank senior economist Robert Spendlove said in a statement.
Some of that year-to-year drop could have to do with employment opportunities, with the Associated Press reporting U.S. job openings fell to the lowest level in more than five years, another sign that the American labor market remains sluggish.
The Labor Department on Thursday reported that vacancies fell to 6.5 million in December, from 6.9 million in November and the fewest since September 2020.
Additionally, the number of people quitting their jobs — which shows confidence in their prospects — was basically unchanged at 3.2 million.
The full report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and Zions Bank can be found here.
