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Economy in Brief
U.S. International Trade Collapses in April; Deficit Widens
Trade deficit widens to $69.7 billion...
U.S. Chicago Business Barometer Weakens Further During May
Chicago PMI fell to lowest level since March 1982...
Euro Area EU Indexes Have Minor Bounce
A slug of economic data hit the tape at the end of month...
Durable Goods Orders Collapsed Further in April
Durable goods orders collapsed 17.2% m/m in April...
U.S. Pending Home Sales Plunge to Record Low
Pending home sales fell 21.8% in April...
by Tom Moeller July 19, 2005
Housing starts were unchanged last month at 2.004M units.Consensus expectations had been for 2.05M starts.
Single-family starts slipped 2.5% after rising 4.2% in May which was a slightly weaker gain than reported initially. The June decline in single family starts occurred in the Midwest (-10.0% m/m, +13.4% y/y) and in the West (-10.2% m/m, +4.8% y/y). In the Northeast starts rose to the second highest level on record (5.1% m/m, 7.5% y/y) and in the South single family starts rose as well (4.0% m/m, 10.4% y/y).
Multi family starts gained back about half of the prior month's decline with a 14.2% rise.
Building permits rose 2.4% and generally have moved sideways this year.
| Housing Starts (000s, AR) | June | May | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2,004 | 2,004 | 9.7% | 1,950 | 1,854 | 1,7 10 |
| Single-family | 1,667 | 1,709 | 9.2% | 1,604 | 1,505 | 1,363 |
| Multi-family | 337 | 295 | 12.0% | 345 | 349 | 347 |
| Building Permits | 2,111 | 2,062 | 4.8% | 2,058 | 1,8 88 | 1,749 |
