Housing starts a bright spot for cooling economy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Groundbreaking on new homes rose in June to its fastest pace in over three years, lending a helping hand to an economy that has shown worrisome signs of cooling. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday that housing starts rose 6.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 760,000 units. That was the highest rate since October 2008. "Housing is clearly in recovery mode, although the sector is much less important than it used to be," said Jim O'Sullivan, an economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, New York. …

Housing starts a bright spot for cooling economy WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Groundbreaking on new homes rose in June to its fastest pace in over three years, lending a helping hand to an economy that has shown worrisome signs of cooling. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday that housing starts rose 6.9 percent last month to [...]