U.S. Housing Starts Fall More Than Expected In May

(RTTNews) - After reporting a sharp jump in new residential construction in the U.S. in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing that housing starts pulled back by more than expected in the month of May.

The report said housing starts fell 6.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.001 million in May after jumping 12.7 percent to a rate of 1.071 million in April. Economists had expected starts to drop to a rate of 1.030 million.

Additionally, the Commerce Department said building permits dropped 6.4 percent to an annual rate of 991,000 in May from the downwardly revised April rate of 1.059 million.