U.S. starts, permits fall in May

U.S. housing starts and building permits both fell by more than expected in May, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Residential starts declined by 14.4 percent to an annualized pace of 1.55 million, their lowest level in more than a year. Analysts expected a rate of 1.69 million. Meanwhile, April’s preliminary numbers were revised significantly upward to a rate of 1.81 million, the strongest since 2006. Building permits for May were down by seven percent.