Benchmark 10-year notes, up 17/32 before the data came out, were up just 15/32 afterward, their yields at 2.92 percent, just above six-month lows.

US housing starts rose 3.5 percent, more than expected, in May. Permits for future construction rose to a five-month high. New claims for unemployment insurance fell to 414,000 in the week ended June 11 from a revised 430,000 a week earlier.

Copyright Reuters, 2011