Housing Starts Plunge 18.9% to Record Low

New housing starts plunged 18.9% in November to the lowest level on record, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The decline to an annual rate of 625,000 was the lowest since records began being kept in 1959, Commerce said.

Total starts were projected to fall to an annual rate of 736,000 units, Bloomberg said.

Building permits, an indicator of new construction, fell 15.6% to an annual pace of 616,000 units.