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Economy in Brief
U.S. Construction Spending Unexpectedly Dips in May After Seven Straight Monthly Rises
The value of construction put-in-place ticked down 0.1% m/m (+9.7% y/y) in May...
Developed Economies Manufacturing Sectors Hit Hard in June
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U.S. Income Gained, Spending Slowed in May
Personal income growth remained solid while household spending slowed in May...
U.S. Chicago Business Barometer Falls Back in June to the Lowest Level since Aug. '20
The ISM-Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer fell to 56.0...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Edged Down
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended June 25 declined by 2,000 to 231,000...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller June 19, 2018
Total housing starts rose 5.0% (20.3% y/y) during May to 1.350 million units (SAAR) from 1.286 million in April, revised from 1.287 million. It was the highest level of starts since July 2007. A level of 1.305 million starts had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Starts of single-family homes improved 3.9% last month (18.3% y/y) to 936,000, following a 2.2% April rise to 901,000. Starts of multi-family units rebounded 7.5% to 414,000 units after a 13.5% decline to 385,000 units.
The rise in starts last month was dominated by the Midwest where housing starts surged by roughly two-thirds both m/m and y/y to 266,000. That followed a 9.9% April decline. Elsewhere around the country housing starts fell. Housing starts in the Northeast were off 15.0% (+20.0% y/y) to 102,000, the lowest level since December. Starts in the West fell 4.1% (+4.8% y/y) to 329,000, the lowest level since September. Starts in the South eased 0.9% (+16.8% y/y) to 653,000 after a 4.6% gain.
Building permits declined 4.6% (+8.0% y/y) to 1.301 million units following a 0.9% April fall. Single-family permits were off 2.2% (+7.7% y/y) to 844,000 after a 1.4% rise. Permits to build multi-family homes fell 8.8% (+8.6% y/y) to 457,000, after declining 4.8%.
The housing starts and permits figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | May | Apr | Mar | May Y/Y % | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 1,350 | 1,286 | 1,327 | 20.3 | 1,203 | 1,174 | 1,112 |
Single-Family | 936 | 901 | 882 | 18.3 | 859 | 782 | 715 |
Multi-Family | 414 | 385 | 445 | 25.1 | 354 | 392 | 397 |
Starts By Region | |||||||
Northeast | 102 | 120 | 120 | 20.0 | 111 | 116 | 138 |
Midwest | 266 | 164 | 182 | 62.2 | 180 | 182 | 153 |
South | 653 | 659 | 630 | 16.8 | 599 | 585 | 556 |
West | 329 | 343 | 395 | 4.8 | 313 | 291 | 265 |
Building Permits | 1,301 | 1,364 | 1,377 | 8.0 | 1,282 | 1,207 | 1,183 |