Housing Starts Plunge to 10-Year Low

Housing starts plunged 6.1% in July to the lowest number in a decade, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

New starts fell to a 1.381 million unit annual rate, from June’s 1.47 million, Commerce said.

The July level was below economists’ forecasts of a decline to 1.4 million, Bloomberg reported.

Building permits, an indicator of future construction, fell 2.8%, Commerce said.