Utahns feel optimistic about the economy but save very little, economists tell lawmakers
Sep 17, 2024, 5:47 PM | Updated: 10:25 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s legislative leaders got a glimpse at the state of the economy Tuesday, with new data shedding light on how the state is faring when it comes to inflation, savings habits, and general economic optimism.
Alejandra Rodriguez and Jared Gibbs, economists from the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst, told members of the Executive Appropriations Committee that Utahns feel markedly better about the economy than the rest of the country.
The economists said Utah’s unemployment rate of 3% is quite low, and wages are growing – even above the level of inflation, which has been improving recently.
Members of the Executive Appropriations Committee listen to a presentation from Alejandra Rodriguez and Jared Gibbs, economists from the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, about the state of the economy. (Istvan Bartos, KSL TV)
But the pair also shared data with lawmakers showing Utahns are now spending almost as much as they earn.
“This suggests that consumers are saving very little of their income and likely not preparing for a downturn,” Rodriguez said.
Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, said she worries about how certain demographics may be doing worse than others.
“I’m sure that we have a lot of people in the state of Utah that are struggling,” Riebe said. “That’s really kind of where we need to start dedicating some of our resources is bringing those people back into saving more and having a more secure future.”
Economists also told lawmakers they expect economic growth will continue, but they don’t anticipate a return to the big budget surpluses Utah saw during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Is Utah in a recession?
Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said he was “very impressed” with the report, particularly that Utah’s economic optimism remains higher than the rest of the country.
“If this is a recession, we’re weathering it pretty well, it looks like,” Adams said.
But Andrea Wilko, the Legislature’s chief economist who was also at Tuesday’s meeting, emphasized there is no recession.
“We’re actually still growing,” Wilko said, “but at a much slower rate than we were.”
The meeting Tuesday came a day before the Federal Reserve was expected to cut interest rates, making it cheaper to borrow money. The Fed began raising rates in March 2022 to combat inflation.
The legislative economists also talked with lawmakers about Utah’s housing market. Housing prices in the Beehive State remain high, they said, while mortgage rates have been falling a little.
In Salt Lake City, homes are lasting about 46 days on the market before they sell, which has ticked up but is still within levels seen in the past, the economists said.
