Housing starts grew 1.7% in July, while building permits dropped 3.1%, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
Starts increased to an annual rate of 546,000 units, with single-family units down 4.2% after a 1.7% drop the month before, Commerce said.
The housing starts level was below economists’ forecasts of a 560,000 rate, Bloomberg reported.
Building permits, an indicator of future construction, fell to a 565,000 pace, the lowest level since May 2009. Single-family permits dropped 1.2%.
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