U.S. housing starts down, permits up

U.S. construction starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.52 million in October, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That was a decrease of 0.7 percent and fell short of economists’ projection of 1.63 million units. Compared to October 2020, however, starts were up by 0.4 percent. The SAAR of building permits for the month was 1.65 million. That was four percent higher than in September and 3.4 percent above the previous October’s pace.