Housing Starts Jump to Four-Year High
Housing starts jumped 12.1% in December to a four-year high, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
Starts rose to an annual rate of 954,000 unitsÌý—Ìýthe highest since June 2008Ìý— and topped economists’ median forecast of 890,000, Bloomberg News reported.
For the full year, housing starts also jumped, rising 28.1% to 780,000 from 609,000 in 2011, the biggest jump since 1983 and the highest level since 2008.
November starts were revised down to 851,000, from an originally reported 861,000.
Single-family home starts in December rose 8.1% to a 616,000 rate, also the highest since June 2008.
Work on multifamily units, which is often more volatile, jumped 20.3% to an annual rate of 338,000.