U.S. Housing Starts Drop 10%

Contractors broke ground on new homes in the U.S. last month at an annual rate of 836,000 units compared with 928,000 in May, the Dept. of Commerce reports.

The number of housing starts was dragged down by a 26% plunge in groundbreaking for multifamily units. But June's single-family starts, which account for 70% of home construction, were unchanged from the previous month.

Issuance of new building permits, a gauge of future activity, fell 8% in June.

Analysts remain upbeat about the housing outlook. They note that starts for multifamily units such as apartments and condominiums are notoriously volatile from month to month.

Automakers say the gradual rebound in home construction has buoyed U.S. sales of fullsize pickup trucks, which are favored by contractors. Such deliveries jumped 22% year over year to 928,400 units in the January-June period of 2013.