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Economy in Brief
U.S. Consumer Credit Outstanding Declines in January
Consumers reduced credit balances further in January...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to $68.2 Billion in January
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $68.2 billion in January...
German Order Growth Gets Back in Gear Despite the Headwinds
German order growth is back in gear with total orders rising by 1.4% m/m in January...
U.S. Factory Orders & Shipments Rise Again in January
Manufacturing activity is strengthening. Factory orders rose 2.6% (2.8% y/y) in January...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Rise Just 9,000
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose modestly by 9,000 to 745,000 in the week ended February 27...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller June 16, 2005
Housing starts edged 0.2% higher to 2.009M units in May following a downwardly revised 9.4% gain in April.Consensus expectations had been for 2.041M starts.
Single-family starts rose 4.7% m/m on top of the downwardly revised 5.0% increase during April. An 8.0% (3.8% y/y) increase single family starts in the Northeast recovered all of the prior month's decline but the level has been trending sideways-to-lower since late last year. Single family starts in the Midwest jumped 22.0% (4.1% y/y) and starts in the West surged 19.1 (-6.9% y/y). Weakness last month was in the South where a 7.8% (+10.0% y/y) decline reversed half of the prior month's surge.
Multi family starts reversed nearly all of the prior month's gain with a 19.3% decline.
Building permits fell 4.6% and have been slightly lower this year.
Housing Starts (000s, AR) | May | April | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 2,009 | 2,005 | 1.8% | 1,950 | 1,854 | 1,7 10 |
Single-family | 1,704 | 1,627 | 3.3% | 1,604 | 1,505 | 1,363 |
Multi-family | 305 | 378 | -6.2% | 345 | 349 | 347 |
Building Permits | 2,050 | 2,148 | -3.7% | 2,058 | 1,8 88 | 1,749 |