17.10.201808:40:00UTC+00U.S. Housing Starts Pull Back More Than Expected In September

After reporting a substantial increase in new residential construction in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing a bigger than expected pullback in U.S. housing starts in the month of September.

The Commerce Department said housing starts tumbled by 5.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.201 million in September from the revised August estimate of 1.268 million.

Economists had expected housing starts to pull back by about 3.5 percent to a rate of 1.237 million from the 1.282 million originally reported for the previous month.

The report also showed a continued decrease in building permits, which fell by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.241 million in September from a revised 1.249 million in August.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to jump by about 4.1 percent to a rate of 1.280 million from the 1.229 million originally reported for the previous month.