U.S. housing starts rebound

WASHINGTON — U.S. housing starts in February rose by 5.2% from the previous month and 30.9% from the same time last year, according to federal statistics. Privately-owned housing units broke ground at a rate of 1.178 million units, a better increase than expected by analysts polled by Reuters. Building permits, at a rate of 1.167 million, represented a decline of 3.1% from January but an increase of 6.3% from last February. Housing completions, at just over 1 million, fell 4.2% monthly while climbing 17.5% year over year.