U.S. housing starts top forecast

WASHINGTON ― U.S. housing starts fell by 1.5 percent in February to 1.6 million units, but still beat estimates of 1.5 million. The U.S. Census Bureau revised January’s estimate of 1.57 million units up to 1.62 million units. Single-family starts dropped to 1.01 million. Building permits for February declined by 5.5 percent to 1.46 million, just short of the expected 1.5 million.