U.S. Housing Starts Pull Back Much More Than Expected In March

(RTTNews) - After reporting a sharp increase in new residential construction in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing that U.S. housing starts pulled back by much more than expected in March.

The report said housing starts tumbled by 8.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.089 million in March after jumping by 6.9 percent to a revised 1.194 million in February.

Economists had expected housing starts to dip by about 0.9 percent to a rate of 1.167 million compared to the 1.178 million originally reported for the previous month.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, also slumped by 7.7 percent to a rate of 1.086 million in March from a revised 1.177 million in February.

The decrease surprised economists, who had expected building permits to climb 2.8 percent to a rate of 1.200 million from the 1.167 originally reported for the previous month.