U.S. housing starts hit nine-month low

Housing starts in the U.S. fell by two percent to an annualized rate of 1.56 million units in June, according to data from the U.S. Commerce Department. That was the slowest pace since last September and fell short of the 1.58 million units estimated by economists in a Reuters poll. May’s data meanwhile was revised upward to a rate of 1.59 million units from the preliminary figure of 1.55 million units. Building permits in June fell by 0.6 percent to a rate of 1.69 million units.