THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017 BUSINESS US housing construction slumped in July WASHINGTON: US homebuilding unexpectedly fell in homebuilder, D R Horton, were little changed as July as the construction of multi-family houses tum- were those of Lennar Corp Pultegroup shares bled to a 10-month low, but strong job growth is gained 0.31 percent. The dollar strengthened expected to continue to support the housing market against a basket of currencies and prices for US gov- recovery. Housing starts declined 4.8 percent to a sea- ernment bonds rose marginally. sonally adjusted annual rate of 1.16 million units, hurt also by a drop in groundbreaking on single-family Modest growth projects, the Commerce Department said yesterday. A separate report yesterday from the Mortgage June’s sales pace was revised down to 1.21 million Bankers Association showed applications for home units from the previously reported 1.22 million units. loans fell last week. Single-family homebuilding, Building permits dropped 4.1 percent, with the mul- which accounts for the largest share of the housing ti-family segment recording a drop of 11.2 percent. market, slipped 0.5 percent to a rate of 856,000 units Permits for single-family homes were unchanged. last month. Single-family starts rose in the Northeast The report tempered hopes of a sharp rebound in and South but fell in the West and Midwest. homebuilding investment after it fell in the second “We expect residential investment to keep moving quarter at its steepest pace in nearly seven years. up over time, although we believe the pace of “Soft July starts following on June’s solid reading growth will be modest,” said Daniel Silver, an econo- is a disappointment as we had expected housing to mist at JPMorgan in New York. Despite strong pick up more robustly from a soft second quarter,” demand for housing, which is being driven by a labor said Andrew Labelle, an economist at Citigroup in market that is near full employment, groundbreaking New York. “Still, we are inclined to look through some on single-family housing projects has slowed since of the pullback as it was concentrated in generally racing to near a 9-1/2-year high in February. lower value and more volatile multi-family.” Homebuilders continue to complain they cannot Housing subtracted 0.27 percentage point from find skilled labor, especially framers, and that build- second-quarter gross domestic product. Economists able lots remain in short supply. Builders also say the had forecast groundbreaking activity to be little costs of their materials are rising. Prices for building changed at a rate of 1.22 million units in July. materials were increasing even before the US gov- Homebuilding fell 5.6 percent on a year-on-year basis. ernment slapped anti-subsidy duties on imports of Housing starts are well below their historic aver- Canadian softwood lumber in April. A survey on This Wednesday, March 1, 2017, photo, a forklift is parked in front of one of the houses under construc- age of 1.5 million, a rate realtors say would eliminate Tuesday showed confidence among homebuilders tion in a housing plan in Zelienople, Pa. Yesterday the Commerce Department reports on U.S. home an acute shortage of houses on the market that has increased in August amid rising demand for new construction in July. —AP driven up prices. Completions fell 6.2 percent to houses. Last month, starts for the volatile multi-fami- level since September 2016. Multi-family homebuild- have played out and the sector is in the process of 1.18 million-pace last month. The PHLX housing ly housing segment tumbled 15.3 percent to a rate ing is slowing as apartment buildings flood the mar- consolidating and finding a sustainable level of index was trading higher, in line with a broadly of 299,000 units. Groundbreaking for buildings with ket, leading to a rise in the rental vacancy rate this activity,” said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ firmer US stock market. Shares in the nation’s largest five units or more plunged 17.1 percent to its lowest year. “The recovery in the multi-family sector may Economics in New York. — Reuters Draghi will not deliver fresh policy steer at Jackson Hole Analysts wonder how ECB is going to recalibrate growth FRANKFURT: European Central Bank President expectations for a major speech this year. chases. The ECB’s asset buys, aimed at reviving Mario Draghi will not deliver a new policy mes- “Expectations that this will be a big monetary inflation, expire at the end of the year but policy- sage at the US Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole policy speech are wrong,” one of the sources makers from the 19-country currency bloc conference, two sources familiar with the situa- said. Another source said while the speech was agreed last month to put off talks on the next tion said, tempering expectations for the bank initially seen as an ideal slot for a major address, steps for now, keeping their timetable intention- to start charting the course out of stimulus. Draghi told rate setters at the last policy meet- ally vague and giving themselves a wide win- An ECB spokesman said that Draghi will focus ing that he would honour the Governing dow between September and December to on the theme of the symposium, fostering a Council’s decision to hold off on the discussion decide. Policymakers speaking to Reuters on dynamic global economy, in his Aug. 25 remarks, until the autumn. condition of anonymity earlier said that October while the sources added that he was keen to Draghi may have decided to skip the Jackson is the likely date for the most substantial deci- hold off on the policy discussion until the Hole opportunity as markets interpreted his sion given the incoming data schedule, particu- autumn, as agreed at the last rate-setting meet- speech at a similar conference in Sintra, Portugal larly on wages. ing in July. Expectations for the speech had been very differently than the ECB hoped, sending The ECB’s big dilemma is that while the euro In this Tuesday, March 24, 2015, file photo, a traveler walks past a sign advertising a building in recent weeks with investors pointing markets on a rollercoaster and instilling an zone economy has grown for 17th straight quar- Delta Air Lines credit card at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in SeaTac, to next Friday’s event as the likely kick off in the added sense of caution at the bank. Draghi then ters and employment is rising faster than Washington. —AP ECB’s debate how to recalibrate monetary policy hoped to strike a balanced tone but noted that expected, wage growth remains anaemic, keep- given solid growth, rapidly falling unemploy- better growth would provide increased support ing a lid on consumer prices. Economists are Airlines make it harder to ment but persistently weak underlying inflation. to the economy, letting the ECB claw back its now trying to figure out whether wages are In 2014, the last time Draghi spoke at Jackson own stimulus to keep the overall level of accom- showing an unexpectedly delayed response or earn free flights for loyalty Hole, considered the world’s top central banking modation broadly unchanged. whether wage setting dynamics may have fun- get-together, he laid the foundations for the That was seen as a hawkish message, paving damentally changed in the post-crisis, global- DALLAS: Airline loyalty programs are losing JPMorgan Chase shook up the sector last ECB’s quantitative easing scheme, also fuelling the way to reducing and then ending asset pur- ized economy. — Reuters much of their allure even for frequent flyers, year with a 100,000-mile bonus for signing and the rules for navigating the system have up for the Sapphire Reserve card, which changed. Flying is no longer the best way to came with a hefty annual fee. earn miles or points. The biggest bang for ● Even if you make purchases with anoth- $1bn tower lifts San Francisco your buck comes from signing up for the er card, consider getting the card of the air- right credit card. line you usually fly to enjoy benefits such as And those come-ons from the airline to priority boarding and free bag-checking, skyline to new heights sell you miles? Ignore them unless you are even on so-called basic economy tickets. If you check a bag a few times a year, you will very close to a qualifying for a big trip. SAN FRANCISCO: More than 60 stories above beautiful,” said Borden, 37. Salesforce Tower and controversy of its own, with nine unoccupied Frequent-flyer programs get relatively little more than offset the annual fee. ● To stretch your miles, redeem them to the ground, construction workers climb Los Angeles’ Wilshire Grand Center are compet- floors set aside as canvas for LED artist Jim attention from Wall Street, and their financial makeshift stairs and cross narrow steel planks to ing for the title of “tallest building west of Campbell to display low-resolution images cap- importance to the airlines is not widely fly midweek. Brian Karimzad of MileCards.com says it takes an average put the finishing touches on Salesforce Tower, Chicago,” a designation the Council on Tall tured throughout the day by cameras placed understood by travelers, who just hope to now San Francisco’s tallest building. The $1.1 bil- Buildings and Urban Habitat has yet to award. around the city. The electronic art display will be earn a free flight now and then. 30,574 miles for a Tuesday flight but 41,332 for a Sunday trip.