2019.09.1808:39:00UTC+00U.S. Housing Starts Spike Much More Than Expected In August

New residential construction in the U.S. showed a substantial rebound in the month of August, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.

The report said housing starts soared by 12.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.364 million in August after slumping by 1.5 percent to a revised rate of 1.215 million in July.

Economists had expected housing starts to surge up by 5 percent to a rate of 1.250 million from the 1.191 million originally reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department said building permits also spiked by 7.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.419 million in August after jumping by 6.9 percent to a revised rate of 1.317 million in July.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to drop by 2.7 percent to a rate of 1.300 million from the 1.336 million originally reported for the previous month.