22.11.2012 - Focus: US housing
Housing starts in America rose by 3.6% to 894,000 in October, the highest in over four years, according to the Commerce Department. The rise in residential construction was widely unexpected; forecasters thought starts would fall after the 15% surge in September. New home building in the West increased by over 70% on a year earlier. Single-family home starts fell slightly in October, but were up by 10% for buildings with five or more units. Homebuilding could add to GDP growth this year for the first time since 2005. Building permits (another leading indicator of consumer demand) in October were almost 30% higher than a year earlier—though were down by 2.7% on the previous month...............................................Full Article: Source
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