U.S. housing starts soar in May

U.S. housing starts logged a 21.7 percent surge in May, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That followed a 2.9 percent decrease in April, revised downward from a gain of 2.2 percent, and blew past analyst expectations of a 0.8 percent drop. Building permits for the month were up 5.2 percent, contrary to a projected decrease by a similar factor.