U.S. Housing Starts Pull Back More Than Expected In January

(RTTNews) - After reporting a substantial rebound in new residential construction in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing that U.S. housing starts pulled back by somewhat more than expected in the month of January.

The report said housing starts tumbled 2.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.065 million in January after jumping 7.1 percent to the revised December estimate of 1.087 million.

Economists had expected housing starts to fall by 1.7 percent to a rate of 1.070 million in January from the 1.089 million originally reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department also said building permits slid 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.053 million in January from the upwardly revised December rate of 1.060 million.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to climb to 1.069 million from the 1.032 million that had been reported for December.