New home starts in the US increased in May, giving economists hope that the worst of the construction recession is in the past.
The US Commerce Department’s census bureau released a statement showing housing starts rose 17.2% in May to an annualised rate of 532,000.
Building permit approvals also rose, albeit by only 4% to 518,000.
During the peak of construction, American housing starts reached an annual rate of 2.27 million.
But the department’s commerce under secretary for economic affairs, Rebecca Blank, cautioned against too much optimism.
“Even as we see important glimmers of light like today’s increases, we have not yet seen consistent gains,” she said. “The economic environment remains difficult.”
