Utah business confidence plummets

Small businesses in Utah are increasingly struggling, it has been reported.

In the Zions Bank Small Business Index, the outlook for small firms in the western state was shown to have fallen to 84.0 by the end of October, Deseret News reports.

Such a figure represents a decline from the revised score of 85.4 noted in September and is also the lowest number recorded since 1991.

Jeff Thredgold, economic consultant to Zions Bank and author of the report, said, "The estimated net decline of nearly 1.2 million jobs during 2008's first ten months is a painful contrast to the average annual gain of 1.9 million net new jobs during 2005 to 2007."

The overall decline in Utah's small business confidence was reported to be driven by falling unemployment rates, which stood at 3.5 percent for October, with the bank implying that this suggests that there is a smaller available labor pool for firms.

As an indicator of more positive times for the state in the past, a small business score of 123 was recorded as recently as 2005.

Meanwhile, Tracy Markie, owner of Arizona-based Engenuity Systems, told AZFamily that taking small steps - such as receiving bank statements electronically instead of by mail - can help businesses to make savings and stay afloat during the economic downturn.

Those small businesses looking to keep vendors happy, maintain flexible working capital or meet other financial goals during the credit crisis might want to consider getting a loan from a nontraditional lender.