U.S. Housing Starts Rebound Much More Than Expected In February

(RTTNews) - New residential construction in the U.S. rebounded by much more than anticipated in the month of February, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.

The Commerce Department said housing starts spiked by 11.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.501 million in February after plunging by 11.5 percent to a revised rate of 1.350 million in January.

Economists had expected housing starts to increase by 1.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.380 million from the 1.366 million originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said building permits slumped by 1.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.456 million in February after falling by 0.6 percent to a revised rate of 1.473 million in January.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to tumble by 2.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.450 million from the 1.483 million originally reported for the previous month.