WASHINGTON -- U.S. housing starts fell slightly in May as the housing market showed further signs of easing off its torrid pace, the U.S. Commerce Department reported.

Starts varied widely from region to region, however, with the Northeast experiencing a sharp drop in the rate of total starts and the Midwest seeing a marked increase.

The Commerce Department reported ground-breaking for homes fell 0.4% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.622 million units. The decline comes after a revised 2.3% increase in April. Economists had been expecting an annual rate of 1.595 million in overall starts.

Housing starts fell by 28.3% in the Northeast in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 132,000 units, down from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 184,000 units in April.

In the Midwest, starts jumped 15.8% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 344,000 units, up from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 297,000 units.

In a positive sign, the pace of new housing permits, a gauge of sentiment among builders about the economy in months ahead, climbed 2.1% in May to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.621 million after posting a 2.5% decline in April. Elsewhere in the country, starts fell in the South by 1.9% but climbed by 2.9% in the West.

May's decline in housing starts can be partly attributed to a moderate 0.2% decline in single-family homes. Multifamily units rose by 0.7%.