New residential construction in the US reported a significant rise in May, according to data released by the US Commerce Department.  Housing starts increased by 5% to an annual rate of 1.350 million in May, after dropping 3.1% to a revised rate of 1.286 million in April.  US housing starts reached their highest annual rate since hitting 1.354 million in July 2007.  The high rise in housing starts reflected significant increases in both single-family and multi-family starts. Single-family starts wentup by 3.9 percent to a rate ...