Housing Starts, which gives us a reading on new construction, were down 0.9% in May...but that doesn’t tell the entire picture. The previous report was revised higher by 3.7%, which makes today’s figure appear lower. Without the revision, Starts are higher by 2.8% when compared to last month. It should be noted that multi-family starts were higher, while single-family starts were at a 3-month low. This tempers the overall strength in the headline number over the past two months. Permits, which are a good forward-looking indicator, were up 0.3%, with little revisions to the previous report. Single family Permits, which are the most important, were up 3.7%.