Economics
Disappointing U.S. Home Construction Starts Belie Firmer Market
- Starts declined in South to lowest level since November 2014
- Number of homes authorized, awaiting construction picks up
A worker stands at a housing construction site in Schenectady, New York, on May 15.
Photographer: Angus Mordant/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
U.S. home construction starts rose less than forecast in May, indicating builders were slow to resume work and contrasting more recent data that point to a pickup in housing demand.
Residential starts rose 4.3% to an 974,000 annualized rate from a month earlier, the second-lowest level since 2015, according to a government report released Wednesday. That compared with the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 1.1 million and followed an upwardly revised 934,000 in April.