Daily Roundup of Key US Economic Data for Aug. 19

02:31 PM EDT, 08/19/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Housing starts rose by 5.2% to a 1.428 million annual rate in July, with single-family housing starts and multi-family starts both higher.

Building permits fell by 2.8% to a 1.354 million rate in July. Single-family permits increased, offset by a decline in multi-family permits. Homes permitted but not started decreased by 2.6%, suggesting starts could slow in the coming months.

The number of homes under construction and completions increased in the month, which should add to the supply of homes for sale in the near term. Completions were still 13.5% below their year-ago level.

The only unemployment rate declines were in Colorado and Alabama, where it fell by 0.2 percentage point each. California had the only unemployment rate increase, where it rose by 0.1 percentage point.

South Dakota had the lowest rate at 1.9%, while the District of Columbia had the highest at 6%. The national unemployment rate was reported at 4.2% in July, up from 4.1% in June.

Nonfarm payrolls rose in four states and were little changed elsewhere. Nationwide nonfarm payrolls increased by 73,000 in July after a 14,000 gain in June.

The largest payrolls gain in absolute terms was in New York, which added 55,500 jobs, followed by Missouri with 17,100.

Redbook reported that US same-store retail sales were up 5.9% year-over-year in the week ended Aug. 16, faster than the 5.7% gain in the prior week. However, early back-to-school sales have been disappointing to this point despite tax-free holidays, Redbook said.

The Q3 GDPnow estimate from the Atlanta Fed is for a 2.3% gain, revised down from a 2.5% gain reported on Aug. 15. The next update is scheduled for Aug. 26.

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