FX.co ★ Japan Housing Starts Unexpectedly Drop In May

Japan's housing starts unexpectedly declined in May, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism showed on Thursday.

Housing starts dropped 4.3 percent yearly in May, after a 2.4 percent increase in April. Economists had forecast an annual growth of 1.7 percent.

Annualized housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted 828,000 in May from 885,000 in the previous month.

Data also showed that construction orders received by big 50 contractors rose 30.5 percent year-on-year in May, the same rate as seen in April.