Spendlove Sees Utah Resilience Amid Higher Borrowing Costs

Salt Lake City, Utah (November 11, 2026)

Utah’s strong hiring and resilient spending coexist with discouraged consumers and costly borrowing, Zions Bank economist Robert Spendlove told BioUtah’s life-sciences summit in Salt Lake City. He described employment growth at roughly three times the national pace and Utah consumer sentiment at a three-year low. Spendlove cautioned against expecting pandemic-era mortgage rates to return and said persistent inflation and energy costs complicate the outlook. He remained optimistic about Utah’s business resilience. The report connects those conditions to life-sciences companies’ decisions about cash reserves, expansion financing and employee housing affordability, rather than offering a sector-specific forecast.

Reporting: Mark Tullis, TechBuzz News.

Photo: Mark Tullis, TechBuzz.