Monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) updated

The Consumer Price Indexes (CPI) program produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services.

There is no CPI data specific to Utah, so national data is relied upon for this page.

For monthly and annual CPI data see here.

Hospitality industry helps generate $1 billion in taxes

Utah’s hospitality industry and the state’s reputation as a mecca for outdoor recreation have helped to deliver more than $1 billion in tourist-generated tax revenue last year, according to the state tourism director.

“It’s booming,” Vicki Varela, the managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism, told The Associated Press. “It’s like Utah is being discovered.”

Utah’s natural treasures mix the Rocky Mountains and deserts of the Southwest, making it an attractive place for visitors and outdoor enthusiasts, Vicki Varela, the managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism said.

At the Utah Tourism Conference in Ogden, Varela told representatives of the tourism and hospitality industry that the recovering economy has boosted the number of visitors to the state.

The biggest attractions remain Utah’s ski resorts, five national parks and 43 state parks, Varela said. About 4.2 million visitors came to ski in Utah last year, according to the state tourism office.

Utah’s five national parks attracted 6.3 million visitors, while national monuments, recreation areas and historical sites attracted 5.2 million visitors. State parks saw about 4.1 million visitors. The Enterprise

Housing costs keep Utah CPI on the rise

Prices in Utah inched up another 0.2 percent from June to July, according to the Zions Bank Wasatch Front Consumer Price Index (CPI). An increase in housing prices more than offset a fall in transportation costs. Over the past 12 months, prices have increased in Utah by 2.1 percent on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. By comparison, prices across the U.S. have increased at a rate of 2.0 percent year-over-year, with an increase of less than 0.1 percent from June to July, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing costs, which represent the largest proportion of consumer spending at approximately 35 percent, increased 0.5 percent in July, driven by a 3 percent increase in hotel rates. This marks the fourth straight month hotel rates have increased in Utah. Increasing room rates were likely due to several large conferences such as USANA Health Sciences’ 2013 Annual Convention, MonaVie’s 2013 Annual Convention, and Salt Lake’s annual Comic Con. Over 20,000 people were expected to attend these three events, bringing important revenue to the state’s multi-billion-dollar tourism industry.  The Enterprise

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

The Consumer Price Indexes (CPI) program produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services.

There is no CPI data specific to Utah, so national data is relied upon for this page.

For monthly and annual CPI data see here.

Solar Day in Salt Lake City powers through clouds

Solar Day organizers, who said their event, which was powered entirely by solar energy, went off without a hitch, despite the fact that the event saw grey clouds for most of the day.

Utah ranks near the middle-bottom of the country in solar energy production. Its renewable energy sources trail those of neighboring states in the west. In order to move the state forward, event organizer Alan Naumann said, the citizens need to be know what’s missing, how it’s impacting the state and what they can do to help.

Less than 1 percent of the energy produced in Utah comes from solar power. Combined with wind, and geothermal power sources, it makes up about 3 percent of the state’s energy production, according to Utah’s 10-year strategic energy plan. Salt Lake Tribune

State-by-state costs of health care

Today’s Wall Street Journal has a story and graphics on state-by-state costs of health care. Compiling data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it shows that Massachusetts is the most expensive state and Utah is the cheapest. Wall Street Journal

Buyer Beware List

The Buyer Beware List is maintained by the Division of Consumer Protection (a division in the Utah Department of Commerce) to:

(1) protect consumers from individuals and businesses who have engaged in deceptive practices;
(2) supply consumers with pertinent information so as to aid them in their decision making; and
(3) encourage the development of fair consumer sales practices.

This list is comprised of those individuals and businesses that have been found by the Division to have committed deceptive practices or other violations and have failed to comply with the Division's order to pay a fine or other order. Consumer Protection

Click here to view a list of current scams that the Division has investigated or been made aware.

Only 55 percent of Americans save more money than credit card debt

Credit card debt almost equals the amount that Americans have in emergency savings, according to a study by Bankrate.

Only 55 percent have more savings than credit card debt, but that number is higher than it has been the past two years. In 2011, only 52 percent had more savings than debt.

Although the amount of consumer credit has been dropping, Greg McBride, Bankrate’s senior financial analyst, said this doesn’t show much improvement when it comes to savings.

“Consumers may be deleveraging, but the proportion of people with more emergency savings than credit card debt hasn’t changed much,” McBride told Bankrate. “Given the poll’s 3.5% margin of error, one can make the argument that consumers haven’t moved the needle at all over the past 24 months.”

Men appear to have more in savings than women as well. While 60 percent of men said they had more savings than credit card debt, only 49 percent of women reported the same. Deseret News

Consumer spending up, income drop largest in 20 years

The Commerce Department said on Friday consumer spending increased 0.2 percent in January after a revised 0.1 percent rise the prior month. Spending had previously been estimated to have increased 0.2 percent in December.

January's increase was in line with economists' expectations. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity and when adjusted for inflation, it gained 0.1 percent after a similar increase in December.

Though spending rose in January, it was supported by a rise in services, probably related to utilities consumption after a cold snap during the month.

Spending on goods fell, suggesting some hit from the expiration at the end of 2012 of a 2 percent payroll tax cut. Tax rates for wealthy Americans also increased.

The impact is expected to be larger in February's spending data and possibly extend through the first half of the year as households adjust to smaller paychecks, which are also being strained by rising gasoline prices.

GDP advanced at a 0.1 percent rate in the last three months of 2012, with consumer spending rising at a healthy 2.1 percent annual pace.

Income tumbled 3.6 percent, the largest drop since January 1993. Part of the decline was payback for a 2.6 percent surge in December as businesses, anxious about higher taxes, rushed to pay dividends and bonuses before the new year.

Taking into account the higher taxes that went into effect at the start of the year, the squeeze on households was even greater. The income at the disposal of households after inflation and taxes plunged a 4.0 percent in January after advancing 2.7 percent in December.


Excluding the unwinding of the dividend and bonus boost, disposable income increased 0.3 percent in January.

With income dropping sharply and spending rising, the saving rate - the percentage of disposable income households are socking away - fell to 2.4 percent, the lowest level since November 2007. The rate had jumped to 6.4 percent in December.

Savings were the smallest since December 2007.

Inflation was largely contained, even though gasoline prices pushed higher. A price index for consumer spending was flat for a second straight month.

That left its increase over the past 12 months at 1.2 percent, the smallest since October 2009. It increased 1.4 percent in December.

So-called core prices, which strip out food and energy costs, edged up 0.1 percent after being flat the prior month. The year-on-year gain was 1.3 percent, the smallest since April 2011 and well below the Federal Reserve's 2 percent target.

The U.S. central bank last year embarked on an open-ended bond buying program and said it would keep it up until it saw a substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market. It hopes the purchases will drive down borrowing costs.

Weak growth and benign inflation could compel the Fed to maintain it's very easy monetary policy stance. Reuters

Confidence Jump with Housing Points to U.S. Growth: Economy

Purchases of new homes surged in January by the most in two decades and consumer confidence jumped this month, signs of a rebound in U.S. economic growth at the start of 2013.

Home sales surged 15.6 percent to a 437,000 annual pace, exceeding the highest forecast in a Bloomberg survey and following a 378,000 rate in the prior month, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. The Conference Board’s consumer sentiment index climbed to 69.6, also beating all estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

The Conference Board’s sentiment index jumped in February from a revised 58.4 in January, data from the New York-based private research group showed. The measure’s 11.2-point jump was the biggest since November 2011, offsetting much of the almost 15-point slide over the previous three months. Bloomberg

Coupons’ role shifts as market, buyers evolve

In the heart of the recession, the United States became a coupon-crazy country, clipping, printing and downloading billions of coupons a year.

That’s still true, but the coupon industry is rapidly evolving, attracting younger users and more men, as well as zapping out more digital and mobile versions of the classic cents-off paper coupon.

Last year, the number of manufacturers’ coupons issued — for everything from diapers to dog food — was a staggering 305 billion. That’s a lot of coupons to be clipped, printed or downloaded.

Yet the number of coupons actually cashed in by U.S. consumers in 2012 slipped 17 percent, compared with the previous year, according to NCH Marketing Services in Deerfield, Ill., which tracks annual coupon usage.

Although paper coupons clipped out of the Sunday paper still dominate, digital coupons on websites, mobile phones and retailers’ loyalty cards are attracting a younger and increasingly male audience. At the same time, manufacturers are offering more nonfood coupons, which may affect demand.

Despite the recent dip, coupon usage is still well above what it was before the recession, according to NCH data.

That comes as no surprise to "frugal bloggers" such as Ashley Thompson, 29, of Sacramento, Calif., who got hooked on couponing after college as a way to pinch pennies.

Also factoring into the mix are so-called online daily deal sites, such as Groupon and Living Social, which have sprouted — and withered— at a fast pace. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah, U.S. consumer confidence strengthen

The confidence of Utahns in the economy inched higher in February while Americans’ attitudes rebounded, according to separate reports released Tuesday.

The Zions Bank Consumer Attitude Index increased to 79.9 from 78.8 in January, reaching its highest level in four months. Economist Randy Shumway, CEO of the Cicero Group, which tracks the confidence of Utahns for Zions, said the increase wasn’t statistically significant, but suggested that consumer sentiment is stabilizing after plummeting in November, when the fiscal cliff loomed.

Nationally, the Consumer Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index stands at 69.9, up from a revised 58.4 in January. Economist had expected 60.5, according to research firm FactSet.
The U.S. reading was the highest since November’s 71.5. Confidence has fallen since then as shoppers continue to worry about growing economic uncertainty.

The Zions and Conference Board indicators are watched closely because consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.

Both figures are still below the 90 reading that indicates a healthy economy. Salt Lake Tribune