2019.05.1608:44:00UTC+00U.S. Housing Starts Spike 5.7% In April

New residential construction in the U.S. showed a substantial increase in the month of April, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.

The Commerce Department said housing starts surged up by 5.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.235 million in April after climbing by 1.7 percent to a revised rate of 1.168 million in March.

Economists had expected housing starts to jump by 5.8 percent to a rate of 1.205 million from the 1.139 million originally reported for the previous month.

The report said building permits also rose by 0.6 percent to a rate of 1.296 million in April after edging down by 0.2 percent to a revised rate of 1.288 million in March.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to climb by 1.7 percent to a rate of 1.290 million from the 1.269 million originally reported for the previous month.