Housing starts unexpectedly rose

New residential construction surprised on the upside, according to the Census Bureau.

Housing starts jumped 2.1% at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.211 million.

This is only the third time starts have been higher than 1.2 million since the Great Recession, according to data from FRED.

Meanwhile, economists had been expecting starts to fall 0.8% month-over-month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.180 million.

However, building permits fell 0.1% at a rate of 1.152 million. Economists had forecast that they ticked up 0.6% month-over-month in July to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.160 million.