Japan's housing starts grew for the second straight month in August, though at a slower-than-expected pace, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism showed Friday. Housing starts rose 2.5 percent year-over-year in August, much slower than July's 8.9 percent spike. That was also well below the 7.1 percent rise expected by economists. However, the number of annualized housing starts decreased to 0.956 million in August from 1.005 million a month ago. It was forecast to fall to 0.999 million. At the same time, construction orders received by 50 big contractors surged 13.8 percent yearly in ... (full story)