The decline in housing starts points to ongoing supply-chain bottlenecks and the drop in new home sales due to rising mortgage rates.
Inventory of existing homes is 4.1% lower than a year ago, but 12.6% higher than in the previous month, suggesting that supply may have started improving.
The 30-year fixed rate has gone up over the last 12 months as the Fed has indicated a tightening monetary policy.
Inflation rose to 8.6% in May with the largest contributor being gas & energy prices. This meant that real wages declined by 3% on a y-o-y basis.
Unemployment remained at 3.6% as the U.S. economy added 390,000 jobs in May 2022, suggesting that the labor market remains strong.
While wage growth was at 5.2% y-o-y in May 2022, inflation is eroding purchasing power.