USA: Building Permits Fall More than Expected.

US building permits decreased 0.7% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.413 million in May 2026, below the market expectations of 1.42 million, preliminary figures showed. Permits for buildings with five or more units fell 3.5% to 474,000, while single-family permits increased 0.6% to 886,000. Regionally, permits dropped in the Midwest (-18.1% to 195,000), but rose in the Northeast (3.1% to 134,000), the South (1.6% to 760,000) and in the West (5.5% to 324,000).