“Can a housing market be hot and cold at the same time?” asks RBC Financial. RBC notes that’s today’s report shows building permits dropped 7.6% in May, yet still set a record.

“At $3.6 billion, not only is the total value of building permits issued still extremely high, but May marks the fifth consecutive month in excess of $3.5 billion, a streak never before seen in Canada. So despite May’s drop, the construction market is still hot but seems to be levelling off.”

RBC says that the residential side is weakening, with a 12.6% decline, due to a 25.8% drop in the multi-family component from April’s record high and a 6% drop in the single-family component. The non-residential construction market offset those declines with a 3.3% gain, the first in four months.

Also today, the Help-wanted Index increased slightly to 127.6 in June, up 0.6% from May. This is the fifth consecutive month of small increases following 15 months of declines.

Canada’ help-wanted index for increased slightly to 127.6 in June, up 0.6% from May. RBC says that the reading is “neither here nor there in relation to Fridays jobs report. It was the fifth monthly increase after 15 months of declines, so, if anything, it suggests that the risk of a drop in employment in June is negligible.”