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After reporting a sharp increase in new residential construction in the U.S. in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing a notable pullback by housing starts in the month of December.
The Commerce Department said housing starts slumped by 4.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.460 million in December after spiking by 10.8 percent to a revised rate of 1,525 million in November.
Economists had expected housing starts to pull back by 8.6 percent to a rate of 1.426 million from the 1.560 million originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report also said building permits surged by 1.9 percent to an annual rate of 1.495 million in December after tumbling by 2.1 percent to a revised rate of 1.467 million in November.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to jump by 1.4 percent to a rate of 1.480 million from the 1.460 million originally reported for the previous month.
