January 10, 2012

2012 ECONOMIC TRENDS SURVEY RESULTS

The Employers Council
According to the data in our 2012 Economic Trends Survey, employers nationwide are slightly more optimistic than in 2011. Utah executives are even more gung-ho than their peers nationally, with 93% of Utah business leaders expecting the overall 2012 economy to be about the same or better compared to 2011, and only 7% feeling it will be worse (versus 10% nationally who express pessimism). Among Utah executives, 70% expect the outlook for their own business to be more promising in 2012, with increases in sales/revenue. This is a boost from the 2011 Economic Trends Survey in which only 64% projected increases. Confidence is tempered by 22% of Utah respondents that anticipate flat sales/revenue, and 8% that expect a decrease in sales/revenue.

Hiring plans among Utah employers are down from 2011, and fall behind the nation. This year only 33% of Utah employers – versus 45% in 2011 – plan to increase staff levels. This lags the national projection of 36% for 2012. Furthermore, 11% of Utah employers plan to reduce staff levels, versus 6% of employers nationally. Among Utah executives, this is an increase over the 6% who planned staff level reductions in 2011.

In 2012, we may also see more layoffs in Utah (10% of respondents) as compared to the nation (6% of respondents). As for pay, more Utah executives plan to increase wages in 2012 (65%) than reported such plans in 2011 (56%). And fewer plan to freeze wages in 2012 (11%) as compared to 2011 (21%). This comprehensive survey of nearly 1,900 organizations nationwide included 103 Utah businesses.

The full report is available free to Council members via our Members Only website at http://ecutah.org/member or by contacting Terri at the Council office.

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