Housing Starts fell in May, Consumer Sentiment Index fell to lowest level in May, Amazon looking at grocery store Whole Foods
June 16, 2017
The Commerce Department reported on Friday that Housing Starts in May fell 5.5% from April to an annual rate of 1.092 million units, below the 1.227 million expected. It was the lowest rate since September 2016 and the third straight month of declines. Starts are down 2.4% from May 2016. Single-family starts, which account for the biggest share of the residential housing market, fell 3.9% to an annual rate of 794,000 units last month, the lowest level in eight months. Builders cited a lack of skilled workers and a rise in building materials for the decline.
The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index fell to its lowest level in May since October to 94.5 from the 97.1 recorded in May. The index suggests that there has been a break from the big optimism seen after the presidential election results in November. The decline in sentiment signals a drop in confidence surrounding the economic policies of lower taxes, decreased regulation and infrastructure building that has been slow to come to fruition.
Amazon is now looking to invade the grocery store sector as it announced today that it will be purchasing Whole Foods in a deal worth nearly $14 billion. Wholefoods has hundreds of stores across the U.S. and Amazon will now have a distribution network for groceries. With the announcement, shares of Wal-Mart, Target, CostCo all declined. Buying groceries on line will now most likely become the wave of the not-too-distant future.
