Housing Starts Fall 0.1% from Four-Month High

.S. housing starts in July declined 0.1% from a four-month high in June, remaining at a level that suggests sales are improving as jobs increase and builders step up construction on a backlog of homes waiting to be built, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Building permits, an indicator of future production, rose to a 2.167 million annual rate, the highest in 32 years.

Increased construction would likely mean more business for flatbed trucking companies that haul building materials. Also, in the case of home construction, dry van freight can see an increase in demand for the delivery of household appliances and furniture.

Builders started work on 2.042 million homes at an annual rate last month, down from the revised 2.045 million started in June.

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