Utah business leaders staying optimistic

Utah's business leaders say they're still optimistic about their future, according to new results from Zions Bank's Utah Quarterly Economic Forecast.

Research firm Dan Jones & Associates polled a panel of business leaders April 2-24. Respondents rated their mood on a scale of one to 10, from very pessimistic to very optimistic, with the mean score a 7.49.

"Business executives in Utah remain optimistic about their company's future, even as concerns regarding gasoline prices, inflation, finding qualified employees and the cost of wages continue to grow," Pat Jones, co-owner of Dan Jones & Associates, said in a prepared statement. "Increasingly, keeping qualified employees is becoming a major concern."

Based on profits and losses over the past three months, 29 percent of business leaders rated their level of optimism a 9 or 10, the report said. Slightly more than half, or 51 percent, said they thought the economic health of their companies will be somewhat or much better than it was in the previous three months.

However, the Zions report found that the percentage of panelists who felt their company's economic health will be somewhat worse or much worse has slowly been increasing during the 12 months that this study has been conducted. Further, the latest poll found that concerns are growing in nine out of eleven categories.

Finding qualified employees, health insurance costs for employees, and keeping qualified employees continued to rank among the top concerns for executives.