Homes struggle, factories thrive: How AI is reshaping the US economy

US housing activity took another hit in July, with construction of single-family homes falling sharply and agreements to buy existing properties declining to their weakest levels in months.At the same time, US factories continued to benefit from strong investment in artificial intelligence, pushing manufacturing output to its highest level in more than four years.Single-family homebuilding hits lowest since November 2022The Census Bureau said single-family housing starts fell 9.9% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 808,000 units, the lowest pace since November 2022. Compared with July last year, single-family homebuilding was down 15.7%.The decline came even as permits for future single-family construction improved. Such permits rose 2.5% to an annual rate of 894,000 units in July.They were also 1.1% higher than a year earlier, recording only the second annual increase in the past two years.