U.S. Housing Starts Spike Much More Than Expected In December

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Friday showed new residential construction in the U.S. skyrocketed by much more than anticipated in the month of December.

The Commerce Department said housing starts soared by 15.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.499 million in December after tumbling by 3.7 percent to a revised rate of 1.294 million in November.

Economists had expected housing starts to jump by 2.4 percent to an annual rate of 1.320 million from the 1.289 million originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said building permits slid by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.483 million in December after surging by 5.2 percent to a revised rate of 1.493 million in November.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to slump by 3.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.460 million from the 1.505 million originally reported for the previous month.