Economic Buzz: US Housing Starts Rebound In August

21 Sep 2022 , 08:56 AM

The Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing an unexpected spike in new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of August, although the report also showed a steeper than expected slump in building permits. The report showed housing starts soared by 12.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.575 million in August after plunging by 10.9 percent to a revised rate of 1.404 million in July. The unexpected bounce-back by housing starts came as multi-family starts skyrocketed by 28.0 percent to an annual rate of 640,000, while single-family starts jumped by 3.4 percent to an annual rate of 935,000. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said building permits plunged by 10.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.517 million in August after slipping by 0.7 percent to a revised rate of 1.685 million in July. Multi-family permits plummeted by 17.9 percent to an annual rate of 618,000, while single-family permits dove by 3.5 percent to an annual rate of 899,000.Powered by Commodity Insights