New US housing starts and permits rose in August to their highest level in nine months and the number of people filing of unemployment benefits fell last week, evidence a solid economic recovery was underway.
The Commerce Department said today that housing starts rose 1.5% from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 598,000 units.
In another report, the Labor Department said the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell by 12,000 last week to 545,000, the lowest level since early July.
Groundbreaking for single-family homes, fell 3% in August to an annual rate of 479,000 units, after five monthly increases in a row. Starts for the volatile multi-family segment jumped 25.3% to a 119,000 annual pace, reversing the previous month's slump. Compared to August last year, housing starts declined 29.6%.
The housing market, the main trigger of the worst US recession in seven decades, is showing steady signs of healing and analysts expect activity in the sector to contribute to gross domestic product growth this quarter.
A survey yesterday showed confidence among US home builders reached its highest level in 16 months in September, which bodes well for future home construction.
Meanwhile, new building permits, which give a sense of future home construction, climbed 2.7% to 579,000 units in August. That compared to analysts' forecasts for 580,000 units. Compared to the same time a year ago, building permits fell 32.4%.
The inventory of total houses under construction fell to a record low 595,000 units in August, the department said, while the total number of permits authorised but not yet started also hit an all-time trough of 99,000 units.
Data ranging from retail sales to industrial production have pointed to strong third-quarter economic growth, but questions over the sustainability of the recovery continue to linger amid stubbornly high unemployment.
