Announced this morning, Housing Starts were 1,615,000 in August, an increase of 3.9% for the month, which was a higher increase than expected. In addition, Building Permits were 1,728,000 in August, an increase of 6.0% for the month, also higher than expected. Overall, a decent report with larger increases than expected for both housing starts and building permits. While housing directly represents less than 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the U.S., increases are welcomed as its activities support and filter through to many other parts of the economy. In all, the yield on the 10-year US treasury bond ticked lower this morning and equity futures are higher as we head into the market open.
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