1. Housing starts plunged in May, falling far short of expectations to their lowest level in six years.

– The plunge was driven by the volatile multifamily starts, while the core single-family segment fell more modestly.

• Building permits also missed expectations.

• Housing units under construction, a more important driver of residential investment, have been broadly stable.

2. The New York Fed’s services activity index declined.

• The employment index surged to the highest level in nearly two years, …

… while the wage index also rebounded, indicating robust hiring and accelerating wage growth.

• Price pressures remained elevated.

3. Trade prices remained firm in May, with both import and export prices beating expectations, suggesting persistent external inflationary pressures.

• Import prices for computer peripherals and parts remained elevated, pointing to further upward pressure on core inflation from electronics prices this year.

4. Same-store sales growth accelerated last week, according to the Redbook index.

5. The Chicago Fed CARTS estimates that retail sales excluding autos for May fell by 0.2% month over month …

… and the inflation-adjusted measure slumped by 1.1%.

6. The pace of private sector job creation moderated during the four weeks ending May 30, according to ADP’s weekly employment report.

7. Oxford Economics argues that despite a recent acceleration in US job growth, broader labor market indicators remain weaker than in 2019 and are disinflationary.

8. Labor’s share of GDP has fallen to secularly low levels, while the share of profits has risen to secularly high levels.

9. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model is now tracking Q2 GDP at 2.8%, down from 3.3% on June 9.

• Goldman’s tracking stood at 2.4%.

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1. Foreign investment in Canadian securities surged in April. In contrast, Canadian investors were net sellers of foreign securities for the first time in six months.