Economists forecast that starts fell 1.9% month-on-month after a 6.6% jump in April, according to Bloomberg.
Building permits are expected to rise at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.145 million.
"Today's May housing construction report will likely shows starts dropping sharply while permits rebound," said Pantheon Macroeconomics' Ian Shepherdson.
"The weakness in starts is signalled by the prior drop in permits, which lead starts by a month or two."
The weakness has been mostly in the multi-family segment of the market, while single-family permits have been flat.