The Conference Board's composite Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) dropped for the second straight month during August, but was higher than the same month last year.

Following a sharp drop in june, total housing starts rose sharply in July.

Building permits nationwide were issued at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.621 million units during June, a 1.9% increase over the month and 5.9% above the total for June 1998.