U.S. Housing Starts, Building Permits Tumble in May as Higher Rates Hit
2022.06.16 16:06
By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com — The U.S. housing market weakened again in May, with both building permits and housing starts falling by more than expected to their lowest level since last October.
Housing starts fell 14.4% on the month to 1.549 million, while building permits fell by 7% to 1.695 million. Both numbers were markedly below consensus forecasts.
Elsewhere, the Labor Department also reported signs that some of the froth may also be coming off the labor market, as initial jobless claims came in at 229,000, only just below an upwardly revised figure of 232,000 for the previous week. The four-week average for initial claims, which smooths out some short-term volatility in the series, rose to its highest since March, at 218,500.
