After reporting a substantial increase in new U.S. residential construction in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing a sharp pullback in housing starts in the month of June.
The Commerce Department said housing starts plunged by 8.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.434 million in June after spiking by 15.7 percent to a revised rate of 1.559 million in May.
Economists had expected housing starts to plummet by 9.3 percent to a rate of 1.480 million from the 1.631 million originally reported for the previous month.
The report said building permits also tumbled by 3.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.440 million in June after surging by 5.6 percent to a revised rate of 1.496 million in May.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to edge down by 0.1 percent to a rate of 1.490 million from the 1.491 million originally reported for the previous month.
