WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - New residential construction in the U.S. tumbled by more than expected in the month of October, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.
The report said housing starts dove by 3.1 percent to an annual rate of 1.311 million in October after slumping by 1.9 percent to a revised rate of 1.353 million in September.
Economists had expected housing starts to decrease by 1.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.330 million from the 1.354 million originally reported for the previous month.
'Housing starts were a touch weaker than expected in October as Hurricanes Helene and Milton dragged down starts in the South by more than we anticipated,' said Nancy Vanden Houten, U.S. Lead Economist at Oxford Economics.
She added, 'We do expect starts in the South to rebound as rebuilding in the areas most impacted by the storms gets underway.'
The steep drop by housing starts came as single-family starts plummeted by 6.9 percent to an annual rate of 970,000.
The nosedive by single-family starts more than offset a surge by multi-family starts, which spiked by 9.7 percent to an annual rate of 341,000.
The Commerce Department said building permits also fell by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.416 million in October after plunging by 3.1 percent to a revised rate of 1.425 million in September.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to inch up by 0.1 percent to a rate of 1.430 million from the 1.428 million originally reported for the previous month.
While single-family permits rose by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 968,000, multi-family permits tumbled by 3.0 percent to an annual rate of 448,000.
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