New Home Construction Up in July, Not As Much as Expected

Surprise!

New home construction in the U.S. was up sharply in July, according to date released by the Commerce Department Friday morning. However, the rise in housing starts was not as large as many economists were predicting.

Construction on new U.S. homes rose 5.9 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 896,000. The consensus forecast called for July housing starts to increase 8.9 percent to an annual rate of 910,000.