U.S. housing starts, building permits rise in June

WASHINGTON — U.S. housing starts rose for the third month in a row in July, surging by 22.6 percent according to U.S. Census Bureau data. That gain brought housing starts up to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.496 million units, well ahead of the 1.24 million forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. June’s rate was revised up to 1.22 million units from the originally reported 1.186 million. Building permits in July rose by 18.5 percent after a 3.5 percent increase in June (revised up from 2.1 percent).