A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed a modest decrease in new residential construction in the month of April.
The Commerce Department said housing starts edged down by 0.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.724 million from a revised rate of 1.728 million in March.
The slight drop in housing starts came as single-family housing starts plunged by 7.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.100 million.
Meanwhile, the report showed building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, tumbled by 3.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.819 million from a revised rate of 1.879 million in March.
