U.S. New Residential Construction Rebounds In April, Building Permits Down

While the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing a rebound by new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of April, the report also showed a substantial pullback by building permits during the month.

The Commerce Department said housing starts shot up by 1.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.361 million in April after plummeting by 10.1 percent to a revised rate of 1.339 million in March.

Economists had expected housing starts to surge by 3.5 percent to a rate of 1.370 million from the 1.324 million originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said building permits plunged by 4.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.412 million in April after jumping by 1.9 percent to a revised rate of 1.481 million in March.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to slump by 2.2 percent to a rate of 1.450 million from the 1.482 million originally reported for the previous month.

The Labor Department also released a report on Friday unexpectedly showing modest increases by U.S. import and export prices in the month of April.

The report said import prices crept up by 0.1 percent in April after falling by a downwardly revised 0.4 percent in March.

Economists had expected import prices to decrease by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.1 percent dip originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the annual rate of growth by import prices slowed to just 0.1 percent in April from 0.9 percent in March.

The Labor Department said export prices also inched up by 0.1 percent in April, matching an upwardly revised uptick in March.

Economists had expected export prices to decline by 0.5 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.

The report said the annual rate of growth by exports prices slowed to 2.0 percent in April from 2.4 percent in March.

At 10 am ET, the University of Michigan is scheduled to release its preliminary report on consumer sentiment in the month of May. The consumer sentiment index is expected to rise to 53.4 in May after slumping to 52.2 in April.

Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin is due to deliver the commencement address at Vance-Granville Community College at 6 pm ET.

At 8:40 pm ET, San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at the College of Western Idaho.