New residential construction in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of February, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.
The report said housing starts jumped 5.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.178 million in February from the revised January estimate of 1.120 million.
Economists had expected housing starts to climb 4.3 percent to a rate of 1.146 million from the 1.099 million originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said building permits dropped 3.1 percent to a rate of 1.167 million in February from a revised 1.204 million in January.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to come in unchanged compared to 1.202 million originally reported for the previous month.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com