Housing Starts Rise More Than Forecast

Housing starts jumped 10.5% in August, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Starts rose to an annual rate of 598,000 units, the most since April, following a revised 541,000 rate in July that was slightly lower than originally reported.

The level was well above economists’ forecasts of a 550,000 rate, Bloomberg reported. Starts were 2.2% higher than a year earlier.

Building permits, an indicator of future activity, rose 1.8% to a 569,000 rate, from a record low the month before.

Single-family units gained 4.3% following a 6.7% drop in July.