ECONODAY: A slow turn upward is the indication from a mixed but still positive housing starts and permits report for July, headlined by a much lower-than-expected rate for starts and a much higher-than-expected rate for permits. Starts, at a total 1.191 million annual rate, were dragged lower by a sharp fall for multi-family homes to a 315,000 annual rate and 2.8 percent contraction from July last year. Yet starts for single-family homes, which are key for the residential component of GDP, actually rose to a 876,000 rate for a 1.9 percent year-on-year gain...
