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Housing starts unexpectedly rose

Elena HolodnyAug 16, 2016, 18:00 IST

A construction worker works on building new homes in Calgary, Alberta, May 31, 2010. Gross domestic product grew at a 6.1 percent annual rate, the biggest jump since the fourth quarter of 1999, and by 1.5 percent compared with the fourth quarter of last year, Statistics Canada said on Monday.Todd Korol/Reuters

New residential construction surprised on the upside, according to the Census Bureau.

Housing starts jumped 2.1% at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.211 million.

This is only the third time starts have been higher than 1.2 million since the Great Recession, according to data from FRED.

Meanwhile, economists had been expecting starts to fall 0.8% month-over-month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.180 million.

However, building permits fell 0.1% at a rate of 1.152 million. Economists had forecast that they ticked up 0.6% month-over-month in July to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.160 million.

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