2017.11.3000:23:00UTC+00Japan Housing Starts Fall More Than Expected In October

Japan's housing starts declined for the fourth straight month in October, and at a faster-than-expected pace, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism showed Thursday.

Housing starts fell 4.8 percent year-on-year in October, bigger than September's 2.9 percent decrease. That was also above the 2.8 percent drop economists had forecast.

Annualized housing starts declined to 933,000 from 952,000 in the previous month.

Data also showed that construction orders received by big 50 contractors recovered strongly by 6.7 percent yearly in October, reversing a 11.6 percent plunge in September. It was the first increase in three months.