Housing Starts Jump 8.9% in November

Housing starts jumped 8.9% in November while building permits rose to the highest level in a year, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Starts rose to an annual rate of 574,000 units, Commerce said. The level matched economists’ projections, Bloomberg reported.

Building permits, an indicator of new construction, rose to a 584,000 annual rate, from 551,000 in October. Economists had forecast a 570,000-unit rate.

Single-family home starts, which account for about 85% of starts, rose 2.1% to a 482,000 annual rate. Work on multifamily units, which are often more volatile, jumped 67% to a 92,000 rate.

All four national regions showed increases, led by the a 16% jump in the Northeast.