Housing Starts During May 2008

The U.S. Commerce Department this morning released the Housing Starts report for May 2008:

Housing Starts:
Predicted: 985,000
Actual: 975,000
From Last Month: -3.3%
From One Year Ago: -32.1%

Building Permits:
Actual: 969,000
From Last Month: -1.3%
From One Year Ago: -36.3%


The above is a measure of initial construction of single and multi-family residential units in The United States for last month. The "predicted" figure is what economists and Wall Street forecasters were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

If you're wondering about the demand for new homes in the United States, or about the American construction industry in general, then you should pay attention to the monthly Housing Starts report. The monthly Housing Starts report also offers insight into specific types of consumer spending: when housing starts are up, demand for the stuff that a consumer would purchase for a new home (large appliances, consumer electronics, furniture, etc.) tends to also rise--and vice versa.

Click here to view the full Commerce Department report (PDF).

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