U.S. housing starts, permits rise in January

U.S. housing starts in January were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,881,000, the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development have jointly announced. That pace represented a 10.4 percent gain from the revised December rate of 1,704,000 and was 22.5 percent higher than the previous January’s rate of 1,536,000. The SAAR of building permits for the month was 1,881,000, up 10.4 percent from the previous month’s 1,704,000 and 22.5 percent from the pace of 1,536,000 a year prior.