Australia Building Permits Climb 3.2% On Month In May

(RTTNews) - The total number of building permits issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 3.2 percent on month in May, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - coming in at 15,212.

That was in line with expectations following the 4.1 percent decline in April.

On a yearly basis, building permits climbed 6.5 percent - missing forecasts for 8.0 percent and down from 12.0 percent in the previous month.

Permits for private sector houses rose 0.5 percent on month and 3.4 percent on year to 9,454, while permits excluding houses jumped 11.3 percent on month and 11.9 percent on year to 5,571.

The value of total residential building rose 3.6 percent to A$9.28 billion, while the value of total non-residential building fell 22.4 percent to A$6.16 billion.