SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. economy dipped for the second straight quarter, as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 0.9% between April and June.
Colby Ostler is the owner and manager of "Over The Coles BBQ."
"It's a lot rougher in the last four months than it was even maybe seven months ago," said Ostler.
He says the current state of the economy has impacted his business as a whole, which includes his food truck.
"This thing gets about five miles a gallon, so you do the math, it's pretty spendy, especially driving maybe a 30-mile round trip," said Ostler.
The negative turn in the GDP, which is the total value of goods produced and services provided in a country, has some Utahns worried about a possible recession.
Phil Dean, the Chief Economist with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute says we last saw a two-month recession back in 2020.
"It's kind of been historically a rough rule of thumb, that two consecutive quarters of negative real GDP real meaning inflation-adjusted GDP is a recession because in all the prior recessions that's occurred," said Dean.
Inflation currently sits at 9.1% nationally and close to 10% in the Mountain Region, according to Dean. He was quick to point out, that the economy, right now, is sending mixed signals.
"Job markets are still really strong, a lot of job opportunities, the unemployment rate is very low here in Utah where the 2% unemployment rate which is probably below a healthy level of the unemployment rate," said Dean.
Dean explained it is good for people to be financially prepared, whether we are in strong economic times or heading into a recession.
"Taking care of your needs, thinking about what our wants more than needs, making sure you have savings that you can draw on if you need to," said Dean.
Whether it is his food truck or his restaurant, Ostler says he plans to continue to push through these uncertain times.
"We're just riding through it we're not going raise prices, we're just going stay tight," said Ostler.
