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Builders' starts on homes up 3.2%

U.S. builders started work on more single-family homes in May and requested the most permits to build homes and apartments in three and a half years.

Published: June 20, 2012 at 12:05 a.m. PDT
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U.S. builders started work on more single-family homes in May and requested the most permits to build homes and apartments in three and a half years.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday that builders broke ground on 3.2 percent more single-family homes in May, the third straight monthly increase.

Overall housing starts fell 4.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 708,000. That was entirely because of a 21.3 percent plunge in apartment construction, which can be volatile from month to month.

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