Home construction in U.S. increased more than expected in February, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department.
Housing starts jumped by 5.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.178 million in February from the revised January estimate of 1.120 million. This is the highest level since September 2015. Economists had expected a rise of 4.3 percent to a rate of 1.146 million. This increase is attributed to the warm weather in February which led to higher than usual building activity, after the slowdown in January and December.
A good development was registered in single-family starts, which surged up 7.2 percent to a rate of 822,000. Multi-family starts rose 0.8 percent to a rate of 356,000.
Moreover, data of the Commerce Department revealed that building permits, an indicative for future construction, dropped 3.1 percent to a rate of 1.167 million in February from a revised 1.204 million in January.
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