US building permits grow to 1.138 million in May

Building permits rose to a 1.138 million-unit rate in May, almost in line with the previous month's reading of 1.13 million, whereas analysts expected the number of building permits to grow to 1.145 million in the fifth month of the year. Meanwhile, permits for the construction of single-family homes dropped 2% last month to 726,000 units, while multifamily projects increased 6.7%.