U.S. housing starts, permits rise in June

WASHINGTON — U.S. housing starts soared by 17.3 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.186 million units, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development report. Building permits for the same period increased by 2.1 percent. Housing starts exceeded the SAAR of 1.169 million units forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. May’s starts were revised up to a rate of 1.011 million units, compared to the originally reported 974,000.