Economic Buzz: Japan housing starts plunge 34.4%

Japan's housing starts decreased sharply for the second straight month in May, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism showed on Monday.

Housing starts slumped 34.4 percent year-on-year in May, faster than the 26.6 percent decline in April.

The data indicated a decrease in new construction across all categories, with the exception of issued ones. The decline was more evident in the built-for-sale category, which tumbled by 43.8 percent.

There was also a sharp decrease of 30.9 percent and 30.5 percent, respectively, in the owned and rented segments.

The seasonally adjusted annualized number of housing starts fell to 529,000 in May from 626,000 in April.

Data also showed that construction orders received by the big 50 contractors grew 14.0 percent annually in May, after a 52.7 percent jump a month ago.

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