U.S. homebuilding tumbled to a more than two-year low in December as constructio...
WASHINGTON - U.S. homebuilding tumbled to a more than two-year low in December as construction of both single and multi-family housing declined, the latest indication that the economy lost momentum in the fourth quarter.
Housing starts dropped 11.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.078 million units last month, the weakest reading since September 2016. Data for November was revised down to show starts at a 1.214 million unit rate instead of the previously reported pace of 1.256 million units.Economists polled by Reuters had forecast housing starts slipping to a pace of 1.250 million units last month.
The dollar extended losses against a basket of currencies on the report, while U.S. Treasury prices rose. U.S. stock index futures fell.The report added to weak December retail sales and business spending plans on equipment in suggesting that economic growth cooled down significantly at the tail end of 2018.
Though mortgage rates have been declining and house price inflation has decelerated, economists expect the housing market weakness to persist at least through the first half of 2019. It was the fourth straight monthly decline in single-family homebuilding. Single-family starts in the South, which accounts for the bulk of homebuilding, rose 2.2 percent in December.
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