November Housing Starts Rise

Housing starts grew 3.9% in November, the first increase in three months, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Starts increased to an annual rate of 555,000 units, Commerce said, following a revised 534,000 rate in October. The October rate was higher than originally reported.

The level was slightly above economists’ projections of a 550,000 rate, Bloomberg reported.

Building permits, an indicator of future construction, dropped 4% to a 530,000 annual rate, the lowest since April 2009, Commerce said. Economists had predicted permits would rise to a 560,000-unit rate.

Single-family home starts, which account for about 85% of starts, grew 6.9% to a 465,000 rate.

Work on multifamily units, which is often volatile, dropped 9.1% to 90,000.